


Memories Of Genesis

by oudkee



Category: Inazuma Eleven
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alien Invasion, Aliens, Androids, Character Death, Child Abuse, Football | Soccer, Gaslighting, Gen, Grooming, Murder, No Lesbians Die, One-Sided Attraction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-01
Updated: 2018-11-08
Packaged: 2019-03-12 08:53:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 25,330
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13543929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oudkee/pseuds/oudkee
Summary: An alternative, more realism-based and grittier retelling of Inazuma Eleven's second season. Narrated from Ulvida's POV.





	1. Anxious Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> There will be some possibly triggering content in later chapters that I don't wish to spoil by putting them in the tags, please message me if you have concerns.
> 
> This may end up having a lot of edits... so sorry in advance if formatting changes slightly. I'm very new to writing ^^;

I had watched helplessly as my father killed my mother.

He had heard my terrified screams, turned to where I was standing in the doorway, and before I could do anything he grabbed my arm and dragged me to my room. Shoving me in, I fell to the floor sobbing as he slammed and locked the door. He had left a bloody handprint on my frail arm - my own mother's blood. He most definitely had not planned for me to witness the event, as my baby brother and I were supposed to be asleep long ago. I collected myself enough to get up and walk to my brother's crib; he had begun to cry as well, and I picked him up gently and cooed at him until he fell asleep. At my young age I had no idea what would become of us after this, I had had my suspicions our father was not the most honourable person, but what I had seen had proven to me that my brother and I were not even safe in our own home.

After all, the royal queen of Aliea was now dead.

A funeral was held two days after the incident. Security of our royal family was increased due to the circumstances, and it was possibly for the best as thousands flocked to see my mother's coffin delivered to the royal burial chambers. I cried on and on, in spite of my father's futile attempts to "comfort" me. "Ulvida, it will be alright. I promise you and your brother will be okay..." I was terrified of him now, and the way he looked at me outside of the public eye scared me even more - like he hated me for seeing what he did.

My father, always the fantastic actor, feigned expressions of grief and remorse as he gave his eulogy.  
"People of Aliea... our loss is certainly immeasurable. She was not only your queen, but a wife, a mother, a friend. Beautiful in both mind and spirit, her gracious charms touched the hearts of everyone she met. Though she is now among the departed, we must remember to carry on with our lives as they were, our hearts full of light - just as she would have wanted. Our Queen Ulena of Aliea... thank you for being born on this planet." He wiped tears from his eyes, and I knew he truly meant every word he had said about her. She was a wonderfully kind mother, and how I already missed her so. I looked over at our private nurse cradling my baby brother, who slept through the entire service. It made me even more sad to think baby Gran would go his whole life without ever remembering his mother, as he was only half a year old now.

Several somber days spent indoors passed as my father concocted a scheme to cover up his deed. He knew my personality too well and that if I wasn't kept under his constant watch, I would find some way to tell someone what he had done that fateful night. Eventually, reaching his conclusion, our father called for an emergency meeting to be arranged between himself and the leaders of the four districts of our planet. Because the queen was dead - murdered in her own bed by an "unknown assailant" that had broken into the royal home, he set out to arrange for the two heirs to the throne to be shipped safely off to a distant planet; one that had been under Aliea's observations for a few centuries, and to which we had discreetly lent knowledge of many of our customs. He did not want his two precious royal heirs to be sent to a foreign planet on their own, so he had nine other noble children selected to accompany us on our journey.

"Do you really wish for your descendants to live in a world where even the queen of the planet can be so easily killed in her own royal home? It is a time for social reform - we must explore new horizons by sending a select few brilliant children off to a new world, to adapt, learn from another established culture, merge with their society and thrive."  
"I must say I have to agree with our king," said the leader of the port district, "we should keep our heirs safe from threats, and what better way to colonize a new planet than with our young ones?"  
"Blasphemous!" another leader exclaimed. "The planet you wish to send them to, it is at constant war with itself. My son Reize has studied everything about this planet's society down to its proverbs. It is NOT somewhere I'd want to send him to until he was a capable adult."  
"Perhaps I can convince you by saying the island I have selected to ship them to is one of the very safest in the whole world?" our father smirked. "I can assure you that the plan I have constructed is without flaw. They are to be sent directly to a home called an 'orphanage', which is specifically meant to take care of young children until they reach adulthood." My father was a very convincing man, and eventually convinced the leaders to select a handful of young heirs to be sent out with the two of us.

The nine chosen little ones all gave their tearful goodbyes to their parents as we gathered at the station to travel all the way back to the intergalatic port district to be sent off to our new planet. My face was completely devoid of emotion and I uttered not a word as I cradled my baby brother in my arms and followed behind our father to our travel pod. Reporters hurled questions at my father and he answered each one without missing a beat as he always did, though I knew well enough now everything he told them was a lie and that this was all just an elaborate scheme to cover up the fact that he murdered his own wife - the queen - in cold blood. All he truly wanted was to ship his daughter off so that she couldn't ruin his life by speaking up with the truth. After all, how would an honest girl of six be able to uncover the sickening truth of it all if she were light years away?

"Not only is this an effort to keep my children safe, it is an effort to begin testing the waters for colonization on Earth," my father told the reporters. "Our offspring are far better at adapting to new situations than we adults are. Now if you'll excuse us, I will not be answering any more questions."

As we walked into the quiet area of the station restricted only to royals and nobles, my father began talking to me.  
"Ulvida, my dearest princess, a wonderful new adventure awaits you and your brother. I trust you'll be able to raise him as well as your mother raised you. After all, he will be ruling Aliea himself a couple short decades from now."  
I had nothing to say to this. I simply stared straight ahead. He buckled my brother and I into the back of the travel pod we shared with the nine other young nobles. A couple of the older children were my good friends, but right now I had little interest in talking to them - or anyone else for that matter. Especially not my father.  
"You are to be the leader of this fine group until your brother comes of age. I certainly hope that as the princess of our planet you can set a good example for everyone, especially your brother."  
"I certainly hope you can set a good example to the people of our planet, taking us all from our homes like this."  
His smirk turned to a sneer at my words.  
"Such a sharp tongue on you!" He hissed. "Perhaps it's a good thing you won't be in my way for a while."  
I turned to look away from him, and looked down at my sleeping brother. A sweet angel; being forced apart from both of his parents. I didn't understand why our father didn't make up some excuse to keep him on the planet and only send me to Earth, but at the same time I was very glad we would both be away from our father, and hopefully I could raise him away from my father's influence.  
"One last thing, my dearest daughter."  
He leaned in close enough so that only I could hear.

"If you speak to **anyone** of what you saw, I'll see to it personally that both you and your brother join your mother in death, along with these other nine children."  
He stood back up as the travel pod closed. As soon as we were out of the station I began to cry.

~

We soon reached Port Delta, the port that handled passengers leaving the planet. The eleven of us noble children boarded the front of the high speed cruiser bound for Earth with little else but kid's clothes imported from the planet we were traveling to. I cradled my baby brother in a seat by a window, with my best friend Keeve sitting on the opposite side of me. After all of us were strapped in securely, a voice came over the intercom. My father's voice.

"Hello, everyone! I hope that you all are doing well. A few minutes from now the cruiser's calming air will put you all to sleep, and when you wake up you will safely be on Earth. The eleven of you will be going to independent Earth homes that take in children without parents - these homes are called 'orphanages'."

The oldest of us were only ten years old! Children of Aliea are very smart and capable creatures compared to offspring of other species, but the youth of our species are also physically incapable of defending ourselves. This was such an awful idea - sending so many defenseless children to a savage distant planet. Then again, maybe he had hoped we would all end up dying there - or at least that I would.

As a princess, I had studied a lot about the inhabitants of other planets, one of them being Earth's humans. The only similarity our planet had to Earth was our measurements of years, the revolution of Aliea around our star took the same amount of time, but it was always "day" on one side of the planet. I was worried about how we would fit into the human society of Earth - we didn't look much like humans, some of us even less so than others. People of Aliea had large pupils due to the dim lighting of the planet, and pointed ears that heightened our sense of hearing. While Gran and I would likely fit in, there were several of us children that had very strange features compared to people of Earth.

I looked at the surrounding kids, my other close friend Wheeze was holding his baby twin siblings Nero and Quill. I was in a similar situation with my own baby brother, however I felt nervous about that fact that I was several years younger than Wheeze. Would I be able to do a good enough job looking after my baby sibling? I was mildly worried about Ark and Zorhan - Ark had bionic eyes and ears and Zorhan's entire respiratory system was bionic, and even though such technology is very advanced on our planet, I was unsure what would happen to them if their systems failed or needed repairs while on Earth. Corma, Gale, and Hauser were children I was familiar with only by name, their parents were ambassadors for Aliea and had very busy schedules. They were rarely even on the planet.

Our father spoke again. "I hope all of you have a safe journey, I will contact you in a few years to see how you are faring on the new planet!" 

The cruiser's engines started up, and we all fell into a deep sleep.

~

After an extremely hazy journey and a bit of walking to our destination, once the eleven of us had fully woken up, we found ourselves standing outside an Earth house.

I had never seen anything more beautiful in my whole life! Even though the Earth's sun wasn't visible here, I could see how brilliantly coloured everything was. The structure of the house itself was similar to that of Aliea homes, so holding my brother in my arms I bravely walked up to the front door and rang the bell.

A sleepy human girl not much older than myself turned on the lights - so bright! - and answered the door.  
"Hey, are you guys lost? Do you need help?"  
"We're looking for the orphanage."  
"Oh!" The girl looked at each of us, pondering this. "Are... are you all orphans?"  
I paused before nodding yes, and then looked down at my baby brother.  
"All of you can come inside. I'll go get my father, he runs the orphanage!"

The eleven of us stepped inside the brightly lit home. The lighting was far different from that in homes of Aliea, we didn't need very much light to see so it was hard for all but Ark to adjust to this glaring brightness. I caught sight of the other's eyes, their pupils had shrunk so much that they actually looked as though they had human eyes. The human girl came back, and following her was an older man - a man of short stature, but with the kindest face I had ever seen. I didn't trust anything about the situation, but upon laying eyes on him I finally felt safe for the first time since that fateful night - if just for a fleeting moment.

"My goodness, what a group," he stated. "How many of you are there?"  
"Eleven," I said.  
"Eleven... that's the most we've ever had here! We've only had a few other children previously, but as of now the orphanage is empty."  
He studied each of us, then spoke to the human girl.  
"Hitomiko, my dear, will you help them get settled in?  
"Sure. Do you guys have any belongings?"  
I looked around at my group, we had little else but the clothes on our backs.  
"I understand. Come on, let's get the little babies to bed." she said, pausing as she took Gran from my arms. She looked at him for a long time, studying his red hair and sleepy green eyes. A peculiar look crossed her face. "Daddy, can you put out some food for the others?"  
"Of course, honey. Don't forget to go get some fresh clothes from the attic."  
"Sure!" she said, already halfway up the stairs.

I was so nervous I felt as though I could faint! I had never in my life experienced such kindness from complete strangers, and it seemed as though everyone else in my group felt the same way. I was too afraid to talk much more than I already had to our newfound benefactors, for fear of upsetting them and landing the eleven of us out in the street with nowhere to be safe. If one of us did something to upset them, would they at least keep the babies safe, or would they be thrown out with us as well?

"Quite honestly... I **do** find it very odd that eleven kiddies would show up on my doorstep together, out of nowhere. Dearest girl, you aren't all running from your homes, are you?"  
"No!!" I exclaimed, a bit louder than I had intended. I felt tears begin to well up in my eyes, thinking about my parents back on Aliea. I'd barely had time to properly grieve for my dead mother, let alone come to terms with the fact that my father was a murderer. I was shaking, trying to control my emotions when Keeve stepped in.  
"We've been living together in secret. We come from parents who have either died, or were too poor to care for us. He told us about this place..." she trailed off, pointing in Wheeze's direction.  
"That's right," Wheeze chimed in. "I used to spend time at the book reservoir, and that is where I learned about... orphan's ages."  
_Wheeze, you moron!_ But the effort was there in what he was saying to back up our story. I simply nodded my head.

"If you say so, I have no reason to believe such young children towing infants around this early in the morning would lie to me about such things." He smiled. "Dearest child," the man with the kind face spoke, startling me. "What is your name?"  
I was drawing a blank for Earth's naming customs! My eyes met Wheeze's, who seemed alarmed and caught off-guard.  
"Um... uh... this sounds strange but... none of us know our real names or have chosen to forget them."  
"None of you know?" The man seemed deep in thought, and paced back towards the kitchen. "I suppose..." he said back down the hall, "...that I'll have to give all of you names myself. Give me some time to think on it and I will give names to all of you. It's one of the least things I can do for eleven orphans showing up in the middle of the night."  
Giving us our own human names! I couldn't have been more excited yet nervous that someone like this would be so kind towards us, especially considering how strange our situation must have seemed to him.

After a few minutes, he emerged from the kitchen bringing enough food for all of us, including himself and his human daughter. "Eat up, everyone! I have plenty for all of you, and plenty of space as well - you all seem exhausted, and I want you to get good rest." He smiled, a tired yet sad smile. "My name is Seijirou Kira, and my daughter is Hitomiko. We want to do our best to make sure you grow up safe and in a good home."


	2. Love, And Peace Before The Storm

Shortly after our arrival in the Kira home, who Seijirou and his daughter referred to as "Sun Garden", he began to give us names based on our personalities. I liked the names the others had just fine, but I thought to myself that none of them compared to the beauty of mine - Reina Yagami.

The last child to be named was my baby brother, Gran. I found it odd, Hitomiko and her father both doted on him so much. One cold, rainy day in the late fall, when all the kids were occupied upstairs, I was sitting at the dining table with Hitomiko as she held my baby brother and told me about her school. I so wished to go to school in the next semester and be with other human kids like her! I knew it was naive to think all of them would be as kind as her, and yet I was always captivated by the stories she told.

She got up to fetch her papers for the day to begin her homework. Seijirou had been cooking in the kitchen - when he came home from work he took great joy in preparing dinner for all of us and often started hours early. She set Gran down on the floor and left the room, and he began to toddle after her! I had seen him pull himself up to a standing position before, but never walk like this!

"Father, look! He's walking!"  
"Who is, Reina?" He turned around and saw my brother. "Oh! My goodness!"  
Hitomiko returned to the room. What's all the excitement about- Oh!!"  
"Hiroto's taking his first steps! And several of them, at that!"  
" _Hiroto?_ " Hitomiko's smile faltered.  
"...I guess that's his name now, after all?" He shot his daughter a bittersweet, knowing glance. "Hiroto Yagami."  
I was curious as to why the name Hiroto meant so much to them. But I was overjoyed for his new name! However, I wanted his last name to be different from mine. Wheeze had chosen different last names for each of his younger twins, and I thought it really gave them each an interesting uniqueness. Looking back, I should have left his name as Yagami, but I wanted to be unique like Wheeze. How naive.

"If it's okay," I began. "I want him to have a different last name too, like Yuu, Lulu, and Kimiyuki."  
"What do you suggest his last name be?"  
I had to ponder this. "Kiyama, like the groups of mountains in those paintings of yours he loves to see."  
"That suits him very well, Reina." Our father smiled.

In the middle of the winter of the next year, just after Earth schools were back in session, a morning came where I had come down with an awful sickness. My caretaker let me stay home from school, along with the three children who were too young to enter into Earth schools. I stayed in bed and slept for several hours while he entertained the little ones, but by the early afternoon I woke up, bored, and began to explore some of the other rooms in the large, old house I had yet to look through. I had been otherwise occupied or lacked the interest to do so before. One room I had yet to explore was my Earth father's room.

The room was fairly large, Japanese-style, with a tea table and what looked to be a small shrine. A bookshelf by the closet contained all sorts of books on different subjects, much like the library in the west wing, but one shelf had family photographs. Seijirou, Hitomiko, and... and... No! It couldn't be.

"What are you doing up and about?"  
I spun around to face my caretaker.  
"I... I just... um..."  
He gave me a gentle smile and pet my hair. "You're not in trouble for coming in here, or anything. I saw you looking at the family photos."  
"Why... why does the boy in these photos look like my brother?"  
He sighed, rubbing his forehead with his palm. "Reina... this may not make much sense to you."  
I became worried. What deep secret had he been hiding from me? Did this have to do with why he and Hitomiko spent so much time with my brother and yet often still looked so sad when they saw him?  
"Hitomiko had an older brother, my son. He would be about eleven years old now..." He sighed, gazing at the photo. "His name was Hiroto, which is why we ended up naming your brother after him. Your brother bears such a striking resemblance to our Hiroto, not only in looks, but in his demeanor, even though he's still only a baby now."  
"What happened to him?"  
"He was killed in a freak accident. He was a child genius and when he was seven he chose to study abroad, and he... he was hit by a car." Seijirou swallowed hard, then took a deep breath and continued.  
"A government official was involved with the accident in some way, so we never could get a settlement out of it or any justice for my son."  
How awful! I had no idea what to say to him. I couldn't measure my pain against his - though I had lost my mother in a gruesome way, if I lost my baby brother in a similar fashion I would have lost my mind as well.

I leaned forward to give my Earth father a long hug. "Thank you for everything you've done for us, especially me and my Hiroto." I truly meant it.

~

Hitomiko and I had a lot of the same interests in common and had grown extremely close over the years. When she was thirteen and I was twelve, we made a secret hideaway in a space in the attic and spent every afternoon together there - reading, talking, playing with our dolls, or simply just resting.

That same year, I revealed one of my secrets to her up in that attic space - the fact that I and the other ten children were aliens not of this planet.

Her beautiful, clear, glassy eyes looked at me with shock and surprise, then with doubt. "Prove it."  
"My species is too similar to yours," I said. "But you know how our eyes get really big in dim lighting? That's because we're not built to handle bright lights that well. We also all have different names than the ones you know. My brother is Gran, and I'm Ulvida."  
She pondered this for a minute. "You _swear_ you're telling me the truth?"  
I nodded, and she stood up from where she was sitting and came over to hug me.  
"Aliens or not, I still love every one of you. Especially you, _Ulvida_."  
Her voice speaking my true name was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard - as sweet and pure as sugar.

Hitomiko and I shared a lot of precious moments in the attic over the years. We gossiped about school, talked about TV shows and girls' comics, all the usual adolescent human girl things. More than anything however, there was no question that she and I were falling in love - with each other. I had never thought of her, or any of the other kids - besides my biological brother - as siblings, just friends. When she was sixteen and I fifteen, our feelings for each other became more obvious.

Besides my brother, I had never really cared as much as this for anyone - even my Aliea companions. And this was a much different feeling from how I felt for my brother, for it gave me a more warm sensation. I also thought of her in much different ways than I ever dared to think of my brother. We changed clothes in the attic often, and I always found myself eager to see her in her underwear, and even more eager to see her completely bare. I also came to the realization that I wanted her to see me nude, and I felt somewhat hurt when I was changing clothes and she paid little attention - reading a book or doing homework.

Her body changed in ways different from mine - I never did get the monthly thing that happened to her - instead once a year my mood and feelings went seemingly out of control for a couple of weeks or so, something I later learned was a natural occurrence for people of Aliea as it was called their "mating season". I later learned that males of our species went through it too - though they had a much more physically and emotionally difficult time during mating season than females.

One warm afternoon, our relationship changed completely. She had been reading some girls' comic where two female friends had kissed, and she showed me, with a strange look in her eyes. She showed me the scene, and I told her it looked like something I'd love to try. She then spoke quietly, words I had been dying to hear for quite a while.  
"I want to try kissing with you."  
I looked in her beautiful eyes, and gave her a soft smile. I beckoned for her to come closer to me, and pursing my lips, I embraced her and closed my eyes. She placed her lips upon mine gently, and I sighed, feeling somehow complete by being kissed by her.

We broke the kiss, her face was completely red.  
"You really... wanted to kiss me too?"  
I nodded. "I feel something towards you that I've never felt for anyone else, not even my baby brother."  
She considered this, looking away. "I think about you so much whenever we're not together. I think about the look on your face when you talk about something you like, your large, alien eyes whenever the sun sets and the attic dims," she began to speak quietly. "I... I honestly think I'm in love with you."

I blushed hard at this. "You're... you're in love with me...? But I thought you were into boys... You're always talking about boys at school..."  
If I was blushing hard, she blushed even harder. A curious look crossed her face.  
"I've been pretending! It's all my friends at school talk about, so... I have to act like I'm into them, too."

I giggled at her, which in turn made her laugh as well. We kissed and held each other until it was dinner time, and then went back up to the attic after our baths to cuddle together some more. We spent many of our evenings after that kissing, and as we came of age we had learned about "making love" and tried that with each other, away from anyone that could see or hear. When I was eighteen and she was nineteen, we confessed to her father that we were in love, that we had never been able to see each other as adoptive sisters but rather as lovers living together. He was loving and accepting of our feelings, promising us that he would always support our choices no matter what.

Unfortunately, while our deep love for each other certainly lasted past this, soon after I turned twenty our ability to unite our bodies and minds disappeared altogether when an unexpected visitor arrived at our house. Someone I had finally almost forgotten about completely.

~

It was February of 1996, my brother was fourteen and I was twenty. It was a quiet, sunny day at our house. Gran and I were in the backyard, kicking the soccer ball back and forth. Our Earth father had a visitor, and seeing as how his visitors were usually boring, Gran and I payed no real mind and had stayed in the backyard. Wheeze came outside, an excited expression on his face. "You're never going to believe who's here!"

Gran and I were confused. "What do you mean? Who's here?"  
"Come inside and see for yourselves!"  
My brother and I made our way back inside, and as soon as his voice reached my ears, my stomach sank.  
_Our father. Our biological one, from our planet, was really here._

The nine noble Aliea children - although a few of them were now into adulthood - looked excited to be in his presence, after all, he was a well-loved king. The only expression I felt on my face was fear. I can't say I hadn't thought about him coming back for us, but I had found happiness here and I didn't want to be reminded of him. Gran looked confused - he was barely a newborn when we left the planet, so he didn't know who this man was. Seijirou spotted us. "Hiroto, Reina! I'd like you two to meet my friend, Ryuuichi Kenzaki!"

_Ryuuichi!? What a fake name._

He turned to us, and smiled gently, with a hint of iciness that only I could detect.  
"Gran and Ulvida. My, how you two have grown!" He scooped up my brother in his arms, and turned back to Seijirou. "And these two are my very own children. See his porcelain skin and thin, stately frame? He gets that from me. The rest of their features they got from their mother."

Seijirou looked confused. "Gran and Ulvida? Your children? I don't understand this."  
"This is why it is important that you become familiar with me before I finish my proposition I had mentioned to you earlier," Ryuuichi said, clearing his throat. "We are from a planet called Aliea. It may sound unbelievable to you, but I am its ruler, and Gran and Ulvida - or Hiroto and Reina as you know them - are the prince and princess."

Seijirou sank back in his chair. Hitomiko, who had been listening quietly, looked at me, mouthing the words " _The princess??_ ". I regarded her with a sad look, nodding my head and looking away as Ryuuichi continued his rant.  
"Their mother, the Queen was murdered in her sleep and I so feared the same fate for them, so in a colonization effort re-planned to save their lives, I sent them and nine other children to this planet. We have monitored them over the course of almost fourteen years now, and now that we know your planet is safely habitable by us, we would like to find out if perhaps our species could fully merge and coexist."

"On our planet, there is an abundant stone called A-lite. It is what powers our computers and makes our space engineering and travel possible. Surely humankind could progress further if you had your hands on it, and I want you - as the caretaker of my fine prince and princess, and owner of Kira Financial Group - to be the one to introduce it to the planet with me."

"It has radioactive properties, however it is not harmful to humans unless consumed or touched. After a few hours of prolonged exposure to it, members of our species become very powerful, this being why we are one of the leading powers of our own galaxy. If we brought this substance to your planet, many technological advancements would be possible - and if my species bred with yours, the offspring with Aliea DNA could withstand the substance and become stronger and more adaptable. Imagine the great money to be made!"

Seijirou was deep in thought, a serious expression on his face. I felt ill hearing all of this, I had known of A-lite but not that my father would ever dream up such plans.  
"These children... they are aliens?" our Earth father asked. Our biological father nodded, smiling.  
"I had my suspicions they weren't exactly average humans. Their eyes are so full of depth, and they show properties I'd never seen before in adolescent children."  
He stood up. "No matter what they are, however, I want the best for them. Even though most of them are adults now, and even if they still have parents on a distant star out there, I am willing to do what it takes to provide better for them."

Ryuuichi beamed. "You are a fine man, Seijirou Kira. I suppose we have a deal - I will go to my ship to make the preparations."  
He bid us all farewell, and I stood in place, overcome by shock and fear.


	3. Gemini Storm, And The Propositions For The Prime Minister

I had no choice but to obey both my fathers when it came to what they called the Genesis Project. I was too afraid to tell anyone what my biological father had done. I was terrified of him, what he might do to everyone else involved... especially my love, my darling Hitomiko Kira. Two long years had passed as Ryuuichi and Seijirou developed their plans as they would come to be. Two initial ideas for the project had fallen through - they were unable to sell the A-lite technology pitch to Japan's prime minister, nor were they able to succesfully demonstrate Aliea tech at a few of the prestigious technology conventions of 1996 or 1997.

Ryuuichi Kenzaki's newly formed plan involved showing Aliea peoples' power in a nonviolent way - Seijirou's late son had been a fantastic soccer player and so he still admired the sport and suggested it as a way to show our strength. On Ryuuichi's large interspace cruiser, he had brought fourty-four young Alieans, eleven from each district of the planet and from different walks of life. The first group of them was being sent out to challenge high schools at soccer, and if they lost - to destroy their school completely and leave them unable to fight back. Ryuuichi made Gran the captain of our team - one of the three teams in the running for the Genesis title, along with prince Gazel's Diamond Dust and android Burn's Prominence. Gran named our team Gaia for the goddess of the Earth.

The five captains and myself were to have regular conferences throughout the duration of this project. We discussed possible targets, both in terms of soccer matches, and people in power to take aboard our ship. I was not a fan of the idea of abduction, especially since it was an idea my biological father had brought up, but Gran rather enjoyed the idea. His intent was not as malicious, however - he simply wanted to give them a tour and a simple rundown of the properties of A-lite before letting our agents escort them back down to wherever they resided. I always felt, in the back of my mind, that something more was happening during these abductions.

Hitomiko approached me not long before the plan was put into motion and Reize's team, Gemini Storm, was to be sent out.

"Reina... why are you following their orders? This plan is too horrible... why won't you put your trust in humans?"  
"I... I can't. I can never hope to make you understand my past."  
" _Your_ past!? What are you not telling me?"  
I lowered my voice to almost a whisper. "If I tell you, Ryuuichi will kill me."  
"Ha! You're joking, right? No king would kill his own family."  
I choked back tears and turned away. "Hitomiko, if you love me you'll leave me alone."  
"I just can't understand you! Think of what you're bringing your brother... OUR brother into!!"  
"Don't you think I know??" I snapped at her. "I would give my life to leave him out of all this... how about you mind your own business and stay out of it yourself, before you get hurt."  
"It IS my business as long as my father is involved with yours! But Reina... No. Ulvida... if you won't tell me everything, then I have no choice but to leave."  
She walked away, leaving me standing there alone in the attic. My heart ached, I wanted so badly to follow her and figure out a way to explain myself, but I knew it would be easier for everyone if I didn't.

I didn't get a wink of sleep that night.

~

A high school named Raimon had just recently won the national soccer tournament so they were marked as Gemini Storm's first target. Reize and his ten companions were sent out to challenge them, but prematurely destroyed their school after defeating a team that fought in Raimon's abscence. Upon the real Raimon team's official return, Reize, alongside his advisor Rihm and right hand man Goluleo, announced their plan to the Earth boys.

"We have come from the distant star Aliea, as messengers to the people of Earth. We have chosen your planet as the target for our colonization efforts, and are to display our strength over yours in a nonviolent battling system developed by your people in the distant past. That system... is soccer."  
The green haired boy continued. "For as long as your kind cannot best us in soccer, we will begin to take over your planet, and your society as you know it will soon cease to exist."  
A pink-haired Earth boy spoke up. "You call destroying our school non-violent!?"  
"Hmph. The soccer battle was non-violent. If we used a violent battle method against your kind, our victory would be far too easy and you would be wiped out of existence. Your stand in team lost to ours... so we had to destroy your building." He smirked. "Be greatful towards us for giving you a fighting chance."  
"Do you think we're really going to stay quiet about this, after you've wrecked our school and hurt our friends!? Why don't you come down here and fight us yourselves?"

Reize chuckled coldly, and activated his teleportation device. "I'm afraid that won't be necessary."

Gemini Storm's next target was a neighbouring high school by the name of Kidokawa Seishuu, then another nearby school, Kasamino. Reize laid out his threats toward Kasamino's soccer club, and upon their refusal to fight, began to send out the order to destroy the school.

"Wait!"

Reize turned his attention towards the voice that spoke. As Gran and I watched the transmission, I studied his expression. His eyes seemed to light up after hearing this boy speak, or perhaps it was my imagination.

"We'll fight in Kasamino's place. We can't just let you do this...!"  
"Hmm. There's a saying on Earth that goes like this."  
Reize jumped down from the higher ground he was standing on, and walked up to the short brown haired boy, leaning down close to his face. The boy stood fast, an angry, yet terrified expression crossing his face. Reize was extremely attractive by Aliea standards, but perhaps frightening to a young human.  
"The weaker the dog, the more he barks."

Gran and I observed the match together. I attempted to make conversation, observing the skills of the different Raimon players, but Gran said nothing - fixated only on that brown haired goalkeeper. I had never seen my brother take such interest in another person - he was a kind and gentle soul towards everyone he met, but for him to react like this upon seeing simple transmissions of some human he didn't know... it was certainly very interesting. Gemini Storm brought Raimon down in a matter of minutes, hospitalizing a few of the Earth children along the way. I didn't want this... but if it had to happen, I had to let it be. Surely nothing my father could plan would be any worse than what he did to my own mother in front of me...

~

Our first abduction target was none other than the Prime Minister of Japan, one Sousuke Zaizen. Some commemerative event was happening in Nara, so Gemini Storm sent down dark matter orbs, destroying parts of the park, causing enough chaos to throw the Prime Minister's security team into disarray. Once again, that Raimon team showed up, and ended up getting into a scuffle with the aforementioned security team, who had confused them for being "the aliens".

Humans really were silly. Gran was fascinated by this.

Gemini Storm's other mission for the day was to broadcast a signal from a powerful television transmitter. in downtown Nara there was such a place, so they hijacked the equipment, sending a message out all across Japan. The signal - naturally, boosted by A-lite, - found its way onto all television sets and different monitors, overtaking all channels or programs being run.

"Citizens of Earth... We of Aliea have come to this planet, in order to display our power. It is against our wishes to do so in a violent or destructive manner, if possible. Through your ancient system of battle, known as 'soccer', we will display our strength and show you that it is quite impossible to overtake us in battle."

The prime minister's security team tracked their signal, and lo and behold, Raimon came after Gemini Storm once more. The prime minister's daughter herself tagged along, though Gemini Storm easily won against the group yet again. During this match, the agents abducted the prime minister and brought him to our ship. Gran eagerly gave him the tour, describing A-lite to him.

"It's a powerful substance, making our space travel possible, even effortlessly powering our regular transportation systems on our planet. A long time ago, it was used in weapons as well, though we'd advise against this use for it. A highly advanced planet by the name of Ixal was completely vapourized by A-lite weapons, during a war with a galactic superpower. If humankind uses this substance for the wrong purpose, we won't be very happy about it."

"Dearest Gran, don't mince words." My father stepped in, taking over Gran's tour. "Our messenger Reize of Gemini Storm may not have explained our full plan correctly. Our display of power through battle to you Earthlings isn't only to get your attention for our small colonization efforts, but also to introduce this substance to you. We will not hesitate to wipe humans out of existence if you decide to take Falam Orbius's path and use A-lite for large-scale weaponry."  
Ryuuichi smiled at the prime minister, who attempted to remain poised and calm, but was visibly panicking. "Sousuke Zaizen... I didn't mean to frighten you. How nice it is to see you again... Come with me, I will privately discuss with you a proposition that would help both of us out - if we let you use this substance, perhaps your species and mine could coexist on this planet. Gran, you are dismissed."  
"Yes, Father."

~

The next morning, the agents dropped Sousuke Zaizen off outside of his home. No one else seemed to notice, or perhaps they did and did not say anything, but the man seemed extremely ill and out of sorts. His walk was very odd - was he moving that way when he was with Gran? I shuddered, trying to push the assumptions out of my mind, but something was _definitely_ wrong. My father had done something to him, though I couldn't yet be sure of what.


	4. An Encounter With A Snow Angel

Gemini Storm was preparing to head north, tracking Raimon down in an attempt to take them out, once and for all. There was simply no way that brown haired boy could keep his enthusiasm up long enough to defeat them in a battle... or so we had hoped.

Gemini was a quadrant on Aliea occupied by middle class families, mostly professors, scientists, researchers, and the like. Reize's father was one of my father's personal trusted advisors, so I knew the boy fairly well, he was only a year younger than I. His father spent a lot of time studying the customs and cultures of intelligent races, so Reize had picked up a ton of proverbs used by Earthlings to convey his thoughts, or simply to suit the situation.

The beautiful noble child, Pandora, was soon to become Reize's wife. It wasn't a secret that the two of them were very passionate lovers. Diam was Pandora's younger brother, in love with Riihm, who found her way into the arms of many men. Kalon was formerly a space pirate, who had been captured on Aliea and liked it so much he never left. Coral was of Sazanahran heritage, Io was scared of insects, Goluleo had incredible strength not often seen in Aliea people, and Gig was perpetually angry about something. Gringo was a snobby boy, given a sense of superiority due to his biomechanical components. Ganymede was a handsome actor some time before Gran and I were born, and often spoke of the "good old days". I can't pretend to know of his experiences, but I too wished to return to the good old days with my lover and my... no, _our_ little brother, safe together at home.

Reize commanded Gemini Storm effortlessly, though when he wasn't around they never seemed to have much of a taste for each other. When he was having conferences with the other four captains, I watched the others interact, or rather, fail to do so. Pandora and Diam stayed together, but no one else really mingled with each other. Without their captain, their only true purpose was making each other look good. I could see them falling apart in the near future, and perhaps Gran could too, as he began to shift his focus over towards the next team up the hierarchy.

~

Gemini Storm had arrived in Hokkaido, accompanied by myself, my brother and father, and the team that was to surpass them should they fail. At a school named Hakuren was a boy that Raimon had set their sights on recruiting, and it was imperative that we stopped them here before things got out of control.

I was drifting in and out of sleep, my mind flittering around to thoughts of Hitomiko. Did she think of me, too...? I regretted our last conversation so deeply. If she thought I hated her, I could never forgive myself. Dreamily, I remembered our nights together in her bed, her soft lips against mine, her hands on my chest, unbuttoning my blouse...

I jolted awake some hours later. Something wasn't right. Gran was fast asleep in his own cot across the room, smiling sweetly, breathing in and out steadily. I strapped on my boots and stepped out of my room in my sleepclothes, sensing something wrong in the overall atmosphere.

I hurried down to my father's office, as if acting purely on instinct, and opened the door. My father, along with several royal agents, stood in a circle, surrounding a young, silver haired boy. I didn't recognize him... Was he a human?

"I-I swear...! I don't know anything about this 'Raimon' group you keep asking me about!!"  
"No matter, then. Just know that we quite frankly can't afford to let them have you."  
My father gave a wave of his hand, and an agent drew his laser gun at the boy, who began sobbing in fear.  
"Wh-wh-what are you going to do to me?"  
"Simply put, we're going to kill you. Don't worry, this is for a much greater purpose than you can imagine." He turned to the agent holding the weapon. "On my command, prepare to execute this child."

" **STOP!!** "

Everyone in the room turned their attention towards me, dumbstruck at the situation. My father lost his composure for a minute, jaw open, confusion in his eyes.  
"Ulvida. Don't interfere. You want Gemini Storm to win and carry on our plans, correct?"  
"Not if it means killing an innocent boy! This is _not_ what I want!!"  
The boy spoke quietly. "I... I don't want to d-die..."  
"Ulvida, this boy is Raimon's next target. If he joins them, they'll have a greater chance at ruining our plans. I'm sure even a dumb brat like you could figure that out easily."  
"So let them recruit him! Gemini Storm is already falling apart. They hate each other, anyone with eyes can see that. Let our next team fight Raimon and take them down. No one has to die."

My father smirked, a twisted expression on his face. "You're just like your mother and little brother... I suppose we'll have to take a different course of action with this boy." He snapped his fingers, and two agents picked up the boy and began to carry him off. He panicked, kicking and thrashing about, but the agents held fast onto him.  
"You... you better not hurt him!!"  
"Don't worry, dearest daughter. This won't hurt him. It may be a tad... uncomfortable for a while, but then he won't feel a thing wrong."  
I followed my father and the agents into the laboratory room. What happened next was something I'd never be able to forget for as long as I lived.

They gave the boy a sedative, powerful to knock out someone as strong as Goluleo. He fought through it, however, kicking and struggling as much as possible. His eyes seemed to glow an amber colour as he fought the effects, but eventually the agents got him out of his clothes and onto the operating table. One agent pulled out a small device, though it took me a minute to realize what kind. A tracking probe. The boy had gone silent by the time the procedure had concluded, and my father dismissed the agents, leaving him and I to watch the poor boy sleep.

"Since you spared him, he's your responsibility now." He handed me a wand-like device. "Take him to you and your brother's room for the night. Tomorrow morning, when he comes to, wipe his memories of the previous day. Return this device to me without anyone seeing. If your brother asks what happened, don't tell him a word, just tell him to dump this boy off somewhere nearby."

My father took his leave and I was left in a daze. This poor boy didn't look any older than fifteen or sixteen. I collected his clothes that had been haphazardly strewn around the lab, and dressed him carefully. Just when I was trying to figure out how to bring him back up to my room, he began to regain consciousness.

"Wh... Oh, god... where am I?"  
"Shhh... You'll be okay, dear, I promise you."  
"I feel so sick... What happened to me?"  
I stroked his hair, and put his arm around my shoulder. "I'm going to help you get to bed. Just try to walk as best as you can, okay?"  
He didn't speak on the way from the lab up to my room, aside from the ocassional groan of pain. Tracking probes made humans very ill for a time, and I wasn't sure what my father's purpose for using them was, but it ocurred to me that this was what he had done to Sousuke Zaizen just days prior. 

The two of us made it up to my room. I didn't know this boy's name, but I felt a great pity for him. I attempted to lay him down on my bed and he cried out, startling me and waking my brother.  
"NO!! Stop it... Aghh..."  
"Shh, you're okay..." I adjusted him so that he was sitting upright, and he began to sob again.  
"Why... why did they touch me like that... Why did they do that to me? I feel so sick... Why is this happening??"  
"Ulvida, what's going on?"  
"Gran, I can't tell you right now. Just help me get him to calm down."  
Gran sat on the other side of the bed next to the boy, holding his hand. "Hey buddy, it's gonna be alright. You're safe with my sister and I."

The hours passed, and finally the boy fell asleep in my arms, with Gran rubbing his back. The two of us were completely exhausted from trying to calm the human down. I explained to Gran what we had to do with him, and he complied. After the boy's memories of the previous night were successfully wiped, we bid him farewell at a bus stop near the mountains.

"Who are you two? Where are we going?"  
"We're your friends, but we have to say goodbye to you for a while," my brother explained. "We love you, and hope you feel better soon. Please take care."  
I reached over and pet his hair, giving him a small kiss on the lips. "Stay safe, please watch out for yourself."  
We left him behind, but continued to watch over him for a while. A snowstorm started up, and Gran began to get antsy, suggesting that maybe we bring him back to keep him safe. Just then, a bus appeared on the horizon, pulling up near the boy and letting him on. My brother and I caught a glimpse through the windows - it was certainly Raimon's bus. We gave each other a knowing look.

~

As well as we had suspected, that boy was the one who led to the downfall of Gemini Storm. That look in his eyes when they shone of an amber colour, gave him a diffrent atmosphere altogether from the otherwise quiet and timid boy he appeared to be. He was a strong opponent, and I felt he may be our biggest rival, but I knew in my heart that I had to save him in that moment, those several days ago. I couldn't live with myself to stand by and watch him perish. Perhaps Desarm and his elite team, Epsilon, would be able to tear down Raimon once and for all.

"How pathetic, Reize."  
"Master Desarm... I'm sorry we've failed you."  
"I sure hope you're prepared to face the consequences for failing. The hopes of Aliea were on your shoulders... Perhaps it was too much for you lot to bear."  
Desarm kicked the teleportation orb, transporting the twenty-two of them away from Hakuren, leaving Raimon gaping. Gran and I kept watch over Raimon for a while longer, making sure that boy, whose name we learned was Shirou Fubuki, was going to be alright.

Our other reason for watching the team together was to get an idea of what their next move was. Gran, as always, focused on that goalkeeper-captain, but I took the opportunity to observe my love. As Raimon was packing up to head out, I overheard a conversation that lifted my heart and gave me hope for the future.

"What is it, Fubuki? You've been looking at me for a while."  
"Oh... Coach Hitomiko, I'm sorry. Your eyes... They're sad, yet full of passionate love."  
"What... What do you mean by _that!?_ "  
"That morning you found me at the bus stop... a lady and her brother said goodbye to me there. The lady had the exact same look in her eyes that you do."  
"! ...This lady... How do you know her? What did she look like?"  
"She said we were friends, but I honestly don't remember meeting her before. Haha..." he chucked sheepishly, rubbing his head. "But she was very beautiful, she and her brother wore some kind of white jumpsuits, and she had cerulean hair that matched her loving eyes."  
"Reina..."  
"Hm?"  
"...Nothing. Thank you for telling me about her, Fubuki. She sounds lovely, like the person I love and miss most of all right now."

As the rest of Raimon loaded onto the bus, Hitomiko gazed into the distance, dangerously close to where Gran and I were hidden. A breeze blew past as it began to snow, and I stepped out of hiding, looking down at her. She looked confused for a moment, rubbing her eyes. Gran and I took this moment to teleport back onto our ship. I looked back as my precious love refocused her eyes on where I was standing, and for a moment, I thought I saw her give a sad smile before turning around and boarding the bus.


	5. Experiments, Secrets, And Denial

Epsilon's next target was a highly regarded dojo in Kyoto. The students training there had formed their own soccer club, and their talents had awarded them with a challenge from Desarm himself. They refused to fight, until Desarm gave his right-hand man the order to destroy one of their buildings. Relentingly, they accepted his challenge and were subsequently defeated.

Epsilon was an interesting bunch - Desarm, the captain, was the extremely intelligent but eternally bored third child of a wealthy trader family. Keison was his oldest brother, his hobby was fashion and collecting clothing and raw materials imported from other planets. His jaw was partially severed in a freight accident. Crypto, the second born, had trained her senses to be impeccable - there wasn't a thing she did not see or feel around her. Energetic little Maquia was the youngest sister, a popular model who often wore her eldest brother's fashion creations in several popular magazines. She was spoiled rotten to the core but also deeply affectionate towards her older siblings.

I knew little about the personalities of the others. Titan and Moll were the children of one of the planet's leading biomechanical surgeons. Kenvil's father was the chief director of exports from our planet. Metron and his family were actors in a lot of popular performances. Swarm and Fadora were half-Aliean, half other foreign races - their fathers were trade ambassadors who had found love on other planets. In particular, Swarm's mother was Latonique, and Fadora's mother was Sandorian. Zel was the son of another wealthy trade family similar to Desarm's, and so they had grown up together and were good friends.

Desarm now had his sights set on only one member of Raimon - Shirou Fubuki. He was fascinated by the boy's personality changes. He sent out a challenge to Raimon, giving them ten days to get stronger before facing them down. He particularly wanted to see just how far their limits were willing to go, even though this was against my father's orders. Gran, however, was still completely smitten with the captain of Raimon. The young captain was all he talked about - and how his eyes would light up whenever the human boy was mentioned! He had accompanied Epsilon to Kyoto to supervise their match, but I knew this wasn't the only reason he went. In the quiet of the night, Gran, pretending to be the human boy Hiroto for the first time in a long time, introduced himself to the captain.

"Gran, don't become too infatuated with him. Raimon may have defeated Gemini Storm, but Epsilon will easily take them down, and move onto the next team."  
My brother smirked. "Maybe you're right, but he sure does have an interesting personality. His positive aura affects everyone around him. I really admire that."

In the days leading up to Epsilon's showdown with Raimon, I had become fast friends with Desarm and his siblings. I would often practice on the field with the four of them, training them up at our Osaka base to help them become even stronger. We took lunch together, chatting and gossiping about the other teams, and the humans. For the first time, I finally had close friends from my own planet besides the nine I grew up with. I had a standoffish personality, and I knew it very well - not many of the people aboard our ship were as fond of me as they were my brother and father. It made me happy to know I had at least a few people care about me.

~

In the meantime, Ryuuichi's experiments on probing select humans lead towards him figuring out how to alter human DNA to give them similarities to our DNA structure. He took his first new experiment subject right out from under Seijirou's nose - a runaway teenager by the name of Akio Fudou had been taken in by Seijirou for some time, but Ryuuichi had gotten a hold of him and used him as a test subject. Myself, Zorhan, and Ark were selected to watch over the grueling surgical procedures and A-lite chemical treatments the boy was to be put through. The three of us could hardly bear to watch, and I was moments away from getting sick, but as soon as entry was cleared, the scientists and ourselves went in to inspect the boy, who seemed like a brand new being.

Fudou sat naked upon the operating table, eyeing us carefully. Surely the procedures he just went through had been painful, but he expressed no signs of exhaustion. The scientists asked him questions to assess his well-being, then he was given his clothes and sent on his way to be escorted by us to Ryuuichi's office.

"Well, my boy! How does it feel to be like one of us now?"  
"I feel... so much power within me. Like my body can't contain my soul... It's _riveting_!"  
"Excellent. Now, with these powers I've given you, I have one task for you."  
"Yeah?"  
Ryuuichi stood up from his desk and stood over by the window of his office that overlooked our practice field. "There is a team called Raimon, trying to stop our race from giving these gifts of power to the people of your planet. One of their greatest enemies was a man named Reiji Kageyama, a man who had been arrested for deploying steroids to the team playing for Zeus High School."  
He smiled at Fudou. "Kageyama's prison transfer is tomorrow. We need you to break him out and help him resume command of Imperial Academy, and take down Raimon."  
"Ooh, sounds fun!"  
A bellowing laugh came from my wretched father. "Indeed! Zorhan, Ark, escort Mister Fudou to where he will be staying for the night. Ulvida, stay here."

I flinched. The other three left the room, and I was alone with my father. He walked up to me, towering over me.  
"Ark and Zorhan know very well that this is a top secret project... I can trust you won't be telling your brother about my little 'experiments'? After all, there will have to be more to come. How else will we take over this planet?"  
"So **that's** the reason behind all of this? Alter their DNA by force so we can invade?"  
"Ulvida, you're so naive. I don't care about helping make these people stronger. We just need them to be able to make good hosts for our kind."  
I raised my voice at him. "These humans are innocent! You have no business messing with them!!"  
Ryuuichi struck me then, a stinging slap to the face that sent me reeling.  
"Bitchy brat. Don't talk back to your father that way."  
"I'll talk to you how I please! There are other ways to colonize this planet without harming humans-"  
I was stopped mid sentence by another strike from him, this time with his fist. My knees gave out and I collapsed to the floor, blood coming from my nose. The wind was knocked out of me, all I could do was gasp for breath as I watched my blood drip onto the floor. Surely he had broken my nose.

"Those humans you love to preach about so much would do this to you in a heartbeat knowing you're an alien! _A disgusting, revolting alien!_ You got lucky you ended up with a man like Seijirou Kira and not someone who would've sold you to a laboratory or slaughtered you himself!"  
"Humankind isn't... that horrible... they're better than you." I whispered.  
Ryuuichi shoved me over on my side, getting on top of me, grabbing a fistful of my hair.  
" _What was that_?" he snarled. "If you don't stop with your attitude, I'll beat you senseless, right here."  
I was terrified, frozen in place. He asked if I understood, and all I could do in response was nod. He got up and walked over to his desk, pulling out bandages for my nose and tossing them in my direction.  
"Put these on and clean yourself up. I can't have you leaving my office looking like this. If anyone asks, tell them you tripped and fell."

~

Upon returning from his practice, Gran found me sobbing in my bed, facing the wall.  
"Ulvida, what happened??"  
"I... fell and broke my nose. It hurts..."  
"Dearest sister... I'm so sorry that happened." He leaned in and gave me a gentle hug, then took a seat next to me on the bed, petting my hair softly. "Do you want me to get anything for you?"  
"No... I just want to keep laying down."  
"Okay..." He stood up, walking over to his side of the room to change into his night clothes. "I'm really worried about you, Ulvi. You've been distant lately, and it isn't like you to be clumsy and hurt yourself like that."  
"I'm just very tired... I miss Hitomiko, and I'm sad."  
Gran frowned, considering this, then turned to look out of our window at the stars outside. "When Epsilon was in Kyoto... and I went with them to watch their match, I saw her... she looked up at me, and she was looking for you too."  
He looked over at me. "I know the two of you will be together again soon. When Father's plans are realized and us of Aliea can coexist with humans, everything will be okay."

~

Naturally, Imperial Academy lost to Raimon, but it gave Ryuuichi the opportunity to experiment on ten other teenage humans. After their match against Raimon, two of the human boys, Sakuma and Genda, passed away later that day from side effects of the procedures. Kageyama ran away to Europe, and Fudou took off for Hokkaido, trying to escape his regrets and guilt from being a part of this plan at all. I was one of the only ones aware of this part of the plan, and I, along with Ark and Zorhan, went to bring flowers to the two boys' graves.

I visited Seijirou's home for the first time in a long time. accompanied by my brother and Ryuuichi. The two older men were having a conversation about what had happened, out by Seijirou's garden, and Gran and I wandered the house, looking over the few new young orphans that had been taken in over the couple of years my small family had been absent.

I stood by the front window, watching the rain come down, when I felt a dark presence approach from behind me. I spun around, expecting Ryuuichi to be standing there, but instead stood a young child, not much older than I had been when I came to the orphanage. His atmosphere was strangely like my biological father's, but he was much more beautiful in appearance - he had light teal hair, golden brown eyes, and a healthy, glowing complexion as opposed to my father's dark and dull features.

"Hi... My name's Masaki. What's your name?"  
"Ul... Ulvida."  
"Nice to meet you, Ulvida! Do you like to play soccer?"  
"...Yeah. It's interesting. My brother loves it a lot."  
"You look like my mom," he said, squinting at me. "Are you my mom?"  
I was a bit taken aback by this, trying to figure out how to respond to this child, when Ryuuichi came around the corner suddenly.  
"Aha! There's my boy!"  
"Daddy!!"

If I had been drinking something, I would've spit it out. What the hell?? Ryuuichi scooped the boy up in his arms and spun him around. I had never see him act this fatherly towards even Gran when he was younger.  
"Father... You aren't thinking of adopting this boy, are you?"  
"Adopt him? I'm afraid I can't care for a child right now... but he **is** mine."  
"Wh... what??"  
He put Masaki down. "Go play with your friends, now... Ulvida, find Gran. I have something to tell the two of you."

My brother, our two fathers, and I all sat around the kotatsu in Seijirou's room.  
"Gran, Ulvida... you two have a little brother. A few months after coming to this planet, I found love, and she bore my second son, who she named Masaki Kariya. I had no idea a human could carry an Aliea child... but finding this out helped my plans along for peaceful colonization of this planet."  
"Why is he here, then? Where's his mother?" Gran asked, a worried expression on his face.  
"I invited his mother to stay with me, but she wanted to stay in school. Then she had my child, and tried to raise him, but couldn't handle taking care of an Aliea baby. Of course, my hands were full, so I recommended she bring him here so I could check in on him from time to time."  
"Oh..." Gran looked thoughtful, then his eyes met mine. "When things are more stable... can we bring him back to Aliea with us?"  
"Of course, dear boy! Once we're done here, us of the royal family will be going back home - and seeing as he's the second prince, he has every right to come with us."  
"Why were we never told about this before!?" I blurted out. Sure, this wasn't really relevant to his plans, I assumed, but I thought we would've at least heard of this before.  
"I guess the thought never really crossed my mind, and I thought his mother was going to keep him. He's only been here but a couple of months."  
"Father, I do wish you would've told us sooner that you had a third child," Gran smiled sadly. "I've secretly always wanted a little brother or sister..."  
"I agree with Gran. You should've told us this sooner."  
"I didn't see the sense in making you two worry about a little brother, since you still need to focus on your training for the Genesis Project." Ryuuichi stood up from the kotatsu, as did Seijirou, who was silently listening to our banter. "Thank you for having my children and I in your home, Mister Kira."  
"Oh, my pleasure. The three of you are welcome to come stay any time."

As we were walking out, Seijirou stopped me.  
"Ulvida... Have you heard from Hitomiko at all?"  
"...No..." I spoke quietly. "But I've seen her now and again... she's doing well with Raimon." I couldn't bring myself to tell him that she looked melancholy every time I laid eyes on her from afar...

~

Raimon's travels took them to Osaka, and it was decided that Epsilon would confront them at the secret training base. Gran, Ryuuichi, and myself all bid them good luck. This was their first time seeing me with my broken nose, and Desarm looked at me with particular concern. I tried not to let our gaze meet for more than a couple of seconds, as I couldn't have him worrying about my own issues. His only focus should be on defeating Raimon... 

Gran and I watched their match, and Raimon's strength had definitely grown considerably in the last ten days. Raimon's captain's strength was comparable with Desarm's, and Gran took careful note of this. I studied my brother's profile as he watched that brown haired boy once again, his lips slightly parted, and a soft blush across his pale cheeks.

"Gran..."  
"...Oh. Yes?"  
"You're in love with him."  
"No, I'm not. I barely know him. And how could the heir to the throne fall in love with a human?"  
I was hurt by this, even though I know he didn't mean it as a jab against me. I teased him back. "Gran, you're in denial. It's okay to be infatuated with someone like that... Raimon is definitely stronger than we first thought, and it seems they'll be our main - possibly only - enemy from here on out."  
"...I can't be in... love... with _him_. Father expects me to fall in love with a woman and for us to have the next heirs to the throne."  
"I'm sure he'd understand, if it were you."  
"You don't get it!" My brother slammed his fist on the console and suddenly stood up, and for a second before he looked away I saw tears welling up in his eyes. "You have no idea... you think he's strict with you, but he puts so much pressure on me all the time. Learn this and that, act this certain way in the public eye, fall in love with someone well off and marry her, have babies with her... I don't want to be the ruler of Aliea. _I just want to go home, with Seijirou and Hitomiko, and our little brother_."  
I stared at him, my mouth open, unable to speak. I had no idea my brother was under so much pressure from Ryuuichi. I had suspected it to some extent, but not for him to be taking it this hard... I figured he was taking everything calm and in stride, as his nature always had been.  
"Father simply won't allow for me to be in love with a human, even if it were a human woman. He doesn't care that you're with Hitomiko, but I'm going to have to marry some noblewoman from our planet sooner or later. I could never be in love with Mamoru Endou."


	6. Composures Slowly Cracking

Epsilon tied with Raimon, and I took it upon myself to train them. I trained them relentlessly, for I wanted them to win... No. I needed them to win. My baby brother was tormented by the thoughts of Raimon's captain, I needed him to forget. I couldn't let his heart feel the same pain I felt over Hitomiko. I trained the members of Epsilon until they looked at me with nothing but hatred in their eyes, then trained them some more. Even Desarm, who I suspected had feelings for me, started to glare at me with disdain. I saw nothing but Gran's pained, lovestruck expression, eating away at the back of my mind. I needed Raimon to lose, to give up. I wanted to break their little hearts like that captain broke my brother's.

I sat in my brother and I's dorm room, preparing to go to sleep for the night and resume training Epsilon the next day. Gran entered, a strange smile on his face.  
"Let's challenge Raimon tomorrow. Ourselves. We should show our fathers that Gaia is meant to be the official team of the Genesis Project."  
"Gran..."  
"Those two... that asshole ice prince and the android... they're not fit to fight against a team like Raimon. A captain like Mamoru..."  
"Shut up. This isn't about Gazel or Burn, and you know it. The only reason you want to challenge them is to hurry up and fight Endou." I stood up from my bed and walked over to the window, looking out at the stars so distant above. "Anyway, it'd look bad on you to only fight with ten people... since I won't be helping you."  
Gran furrowed his brow at me, lowering his voice.  
"I think I'll get what I want... considering Father already approved all eleven of us being there for a friendly match."  
"Why are you acting like this? I'm disgusted, Gran. You need to lighten up."  
"We're going to fight them tomorrow at noon. I know you want to, too. You want to see Hitomiko. And I've already told Mamoru."

...What?  
"You... you _what_?"  
"I found him," Gran chuckled. "I found him out practicing and introduced myself as Hiroto. I told him I had a team... and I promised him we'd play a match tomorrow."  
"I can't believe you!! Gran... I've been training Epsilon to take down Raimon so you'd forget about him... I want you to forget him... You said yourself that you can't be in love with him."  
"I'm **not** in love with him!! I want... I want him to... join us. I'm interested in his... strengths."  
"Gran, be quiet and listen to me. Look me in the eyes," I said, grabbing him by the shoulders. "You're my little brother. I can read you like an open book. And you're infatuated with him. You need to accept that you cannnot be with him. I'm trying to help you forget about him and leave him behind."  
"If you wanted to help me, you'd stop being a terrible sister and leave my feelings alone!!"

The words stung like something Ryuuichi would say. Was I being a terrible sister?  
"Tomorrow at noon. We're all going."  
Gran climbed in bed, and I turned my gaze out the window once more. Clouds were rolling in on the horizon... perhaps quite telling of what was to come.

"Gran, I don't want you to hurt for Endou like I do for Hitomiko."  
"I'm not hurting, because I didn't make the mistake of falling in love."  
I stayed quiet, knowing he was only speaking out of pain.

Down on the field as we introduced ourselves to Raimon, I never took my eyes off the other players. I didn't want to look at Hitomiko, I didn't want to meet her eyes, for I knew I'd end up crying if I did. The members of Raimon lost their confidence throughout the match. Even though they fared well against Epsilon, there was not much of a challenge for us. Gran scored goal after goal against Endou, giving off an intimidating pressure I'd never felt from him before. I only complied with the others on the field, trying to get the ball back to my brother. None of us spoke to each other, or to Raimon, who only spoke amongst themselves. As time was quickly running out, Gran spoke to Endou for the first time since the game had started.

"I suppose my sister, Ulvida, was right, after all. It's something I won't deny to myself any longer." He looked up from the ball at his feet, up to Endou's serious expression as he stood under the goalpost.

"I'm in love, Mamoru... with those eyes of yours."

Gran shot one more attempt at a goal, but a defender... that same boy I had rescued from my father and his associates... used his body as a shield against the powerful shot, sending the ball in another direction and knocking himself out cold. The other members of Raimon gathered around the boy, and Gran finally snapped out of his manic phase, turning his attention towards the collapsed boy, giving him a sad, concerned look.

"I wonder if he's going to be okay..."  
"Gran, we're leaving. This isn't worth our time."

Gran looked from Endou, giving him that trademark sweet smile only he knew how to give - then to Hitomiko, who only frowned at him. His smile faultered as he bid a soft farewell.

"See you later."

~

No one could find Burn, the third captain slotted to fight Raimon should Epsilon fail once more. Burn's team Prominence was one of three in the running for the Genesis title, so him going missing was a big deal. No one else on his own team knew where he was, and some of his teammates - such as the ex-captain, Saidern - didn't even realize he was missing.

Prominence were a team of androids, just as cold and unfeeling as their competition, Diamond Dust. The latter's captain, Gazel, was close with Burn - although having a love affair with an android was deeply shameful for someone in a royal family. I was one of the few people who knew about it by accident, so I subtly approached him in our onboard cafeteria regarding Burn's whereabouts.

"Do I look like his keeper? I don't care where he is."  
"Yeah, thanks for the help."  
"...He kept going on and on about some "southern islands" the other day. His programming is faulty, so I usually have no idea what he's talking about. But if you want to go dig up his circuits out of some landfill, try looking there."  
I gave him an odd look. "For someone that feels the way you do about Burn, you sure speak ill of him."  
He smirked back at me, a haughty expression on his face.  
"Love can twist and warp people." He turned and fixed his gaze out the window. "...Imagine being in love with a hunk of metal."

"I found him!"  
I was with Gran in the radar room, trying to track down Burn. As an artificial being, he had no DNA to speak of, so we'd scanned large areas for high heat signatures coupled with A-lite, as androids from our planet were powered almost exclusively with the mineral. He had indeed been on one of Japan's southern islands, as Gazel had suggested. Lo and behold, he had been buddying up with Raimon, attempting to infiltrate their team. Gran teleported down to put a stop to his plans - plans he had no permission to carry out, so I had no issue letting Gran after him, even if he would be seeing Endou again. In the end, Burn was dragged back, and Gran requested me to go with him to speak to our father regarding the event.

"Father... Burn is unfit to compete for the Genesis title."  
"Oh? And why's that, my boy?" Ryuuichi questioned, folding his hands on his desk.  
"He completely vanished from our ship, and attempted to track down and join a human team without permission. Regardless of his intentions, this is unacceptable."  
I chimed in. "I've heard from someone close to him that his programming is unreliable. Certainly someone like that is unfit to be captain."  
"Hmm." My father pondered this for a moment, studying my brother and I. "We certainly can't make Saidern captain again. His methods were far too dangerous. I suppose we'll have to secretly disallow Prominence from playing any games."  
"Thank you, Father," my brother gratefully said. "Burn seems to be just as dangerous, if he really is faulty as Ulvida says."  
"This doesn't mean Gaia is guaranteed the title, you know. Diamond Dust is just as powerful."  
"Yes, Father."

~

All my work training Epsilon had been for naught, as Raimon had trained just as much and gathered new players to help fight. Gazel was the one to finalize Epsilon's ban from playing any other matches or otherwise advancing the plan outside of our headquarters. Like Gemini Storm, they would relinquish their duties as a team and assisst the higher-ups such as my father and his agents. I missed seeing Desarm practice with his siblings... perhaps it was for the best that I hardly saw them at all anymore. Surely they were bitterly disappointed in me for not training them well enough... I knew I was.

Gazel, the captain of Diamond Dust, belonged to the royal family the watched over the side of our planet that was never illuminated by the sun. The Alieans that lived there had evolved much differently, able to withstand extremely cold temperatures as well as the regular daytime temperatures of the regular side of our planet and Earth. He had six younger sisters, in spite of only being a couple years older than Gran.

Beluga, the quiet goalkeeper, stowed away on a Aliean transport ship after running from the Sazanahran mafia. He was taken in by Gazel himself, to perform as his personal bodyguard. IQ and IC were brother and sister geniuses, who worked on building extremely powerful computers to be used by universities. Clara and Blow were noble siblings. Rhionne was a noble princess as well, and though she was bethrothed to prince Gazel, it was well known that she frequently spent her nights in the arms of Blow. Frost was seemingly cold-hearted and often rude to everyone else on the team, but had once stated to me in private that he had a wife and child back home that he missed dearly and only wanted to return to them. Valen had very beautiful celebrity parents and hated attention directed at him, so he had self-mutilated his own face. The orphaned brothers Gocker and Droll were extremely skilled martial artists and inseparable best friends.

Gran dragged Burn with him to come see Diamond Dust's match against Raimon. I stayed behind on our ship, more concerned with what my father was plotting. He had slowed down with experimenting on humans after the incident with Imperial Academy and the two boys that perished from the effects. I knew he would keep trying though... I needed to keep my eyes out for who the next experiments would be... someone else from Raimon? Or worse... someone who had left Raimon, as some just had when Gaia fought against them?

Diamond Dust tied with Raimon, and Gran came down to congratulate the humans on getting that much stronger before transporting back to our ship. I knew a tie was as much as a defeat for a master-rank team such as Diamond Dust, so it was essentially up to us at this point, if my father gave the orders. That afternoon, he gave Diamond Dust the news that they were out of the running. He then called my brother and I up to discuss the matter of our team winning against Raimon.

"I'm getting a little fed up, children. These teams were hand selected by myself. How is it that they're failing over and over?"  
"Raimon is strong. Their captain is unbelieveably determined to stop us."  
"If you can't defeat one simple, lowly human team, then I'll have to carry out the rest of my plans without you. I won't be allowing you two back on Aliea... never mind any of the others."  
"Father, please...! We've done nothing but what you've asked of us. We're so tired..."  
" _Don't talk back to me, boy!_ "  
I winced as my father slapped my baby brother across the face, not as hard as he had struck me multiple times before, but hard enough still to break a bit of Gran's trust in him.  
"That's no way for a prince to be speaking. You should know better. Perhaps lately you've been around your bitch of an older sister for too long."  
Gran looked at me with a concerned expression, then back at our father. He opened his mouth to speak, but the words never came.  
"Don't look at me like that. From now on, I'll be monitoring contact between the two of you. I'll make sure nothing gets said that doesn't need to be said."


	7. Allies And The Enemy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning for a (non-explicitly described) sexual relationship between a young adult and a much older adult. young adult in question is 18 in this timeline but if this is not good territory for you then you can skip through most of this chapter, it may be referenced later in the fic though

I was pacing through our UFO, my anxiety growing as my mind raced with thoughts of our future. All I wanted was for my brother and I to return to Aliea, safe and sound back in the public eye of our people. Unfortunately, my long standing habit of wandering around our ship late at night bit me in the ass as I witnessed yet another grotesque scene involving my father, forever to be burned into my memory.

"...will we really be in the running to rule this planet if Gaia fails to defeat Raimon?"  
Was that... Kazemaru? The boy that was reported as missing from Raimon after Gaia's confrontation... what was he doing in my father's arms, in bed!?  
"Yes, my love." my father cooed to the Earth boy. "And not only that... if your team emerges victorious, I have selected you, Ichirouta, to become the ruler of my home planet. You may be eighteen and not yet twenty, but since you'll be ascending to the throne directly after myself, we can have the coronation immediately."  
"Mister Kenzaki... I promise I won't fail you like Reize, Desarm, and Gazel have. You've given me so much power and affection... it's my job to repay you for everything."  
Kazemaru began to take off his clothes as my revolting father kissed him! I became sick to my stomach and crept away from the door slowly, silently as possible - praying my father wouldn't hear. I heard the Earth boy's yearning moans of passion all the way down the hall as I began to run back to Gaia's quarters. That horrible monster I dared to call my father... not only secretly keeping Earthlings here, but sleeping with one as well! I felt so dizzy as I slipped into the room my brother and I shared, and before Gran could ask me what was wrong, I ran to the bathroom and threw up over and over until everything went black.

When I came to, the first thing I saw was my baby brother's worried face.  
"Ulvida, what happened?? I was so worried about you..."  
I couldn't bring myself to tell him right now. The thought itself made me sick... and if I said it out loud, it would feel too real.  
"I don't remember..."  
"You came in looking white as snow," Gran said, his voice trembling. "...I didn't even have a chance to say anything, you ran to the bathroom and vomited until you passed out. I cleaned you up and carried you to bed. Did you eat something bad? Did someone hurt you!?"  
I smiled weakly. My little brother was such a naive, honest angel. It seemed so unreal that he was related to our monstrous father.  
"Gran... I can't tell you right now."  
"Why not!? Ulvida, I don't like it when secrets are kept from me... especially by my own sister."  
I sighed and turned away. I couldn't bear to look him in the eyes.  
"Tell me what happened! I demand to know!"  
"I'm not going to tell you a thing. You know as well as I do that Father listens in on what we say."

I weakly rose from my bed, and hobbled over to our desk to find pens and paper. I began writing to my brother, putting a finger to my lips to signal him to keep quiet.  
" _Please don't tell anyone else, I mean it. If you tell anyone then their lives could be in danger._ "  
" _Whose lives? What do you mean?_ " He looked in my eyes, his brow furrowed in concern.  
" _Our father is keeping a group of Earthlings here as a backup team if Gaia is defeated. He's promising one boy that he would be the next ruler of Aliea. He has something horrible planned... But he's-_ " I stopped writing, and leaned back, closing my eyes and taking in a deep breath. The thought alone made me so very sick.

" _He's sleeping with one of the boys - Kazemaru, of Raimon. You know, something he could be executed for._ "  
Gran's worried face turned to sheer anger. As taboo and illegal as pedophilic relationships were on Earth, they were taken even more seriously among people of Aliea. On our planet, an adult in a pedophilic relationship earned themselves a death sentence if convicted, no matter how high in society they were. Kazemaru may be of legal age on Earth, but an age difference of over 20 years meant my father would still receive the death penalty if anyone found out, regardless of the fact that he was Aliea's absolute king.  
" _I thought... I could look up to that man and trust him. Trust him to lead us... to help us peacefully coexist with humankind._ "  
Tears welled up in my eyes. " _My baby brother, please listen to me, read my words. I know you so want to, but don't trust our father any longer. You must trust nothing he says... Please help me try to save Seijirou and Hitomiko... your love, Endou... everyone... from being hurt by him._ "  
Gran looked away from me and off into space before writing once more. " _I understand. You're my big sister, I have to trust you over someone who's barely been in my life but a few years._ "

I collected our papers, and Gran helped me to my feet. I left our dorm, a bit shakily, to take them to one other person I trusted. All I wanted was one more person on our side, someone outside of any royal family...

~

I made my way down to the Epsilon dorm rooms. Finding myself standing outside the captain's quarters, I looked around cautiously to make sure I wasn't being followed. I gave the door several light knocks, hoping Desarm would answer. After a couple minutes he did, and I saw the pained look he gave me - still hurt from how much I pushed him and the others to train, and yet they still lost...

"Ulvida... Do you need me for something?"  
"Can I come in? I have to talk to you."  
"U-uh, sure..."

I walked over to the table inside his room, sitting myself down. Manners like this were not fitting for a princess, but as sick and angry as I was I no longer cared what anyone thought of me, even Desarm.  
"What's wrong? You look ill..."  
"Look... I need you to keep this a secret. I was never here."  
He nodded in confusion. "Anything you say, your highness."

I told him the gruesome details of what I had seen, and explained my father's monitoring of contact between my brother and myself. I then showed him Gran and I's written notes to each other from just minutes earlier, watching as his expression changed.

"No... Our king... He would never do something as horrible as this... He..." Desarm trailed off, re-reading the notes in shock. "I don't want to believe you... I wouldn't believe you if you were anyone else. But... You and Gran are the heirs to the throne. How can I trust that you aren't just trying to ascend to the throne early...?"  
"I don't _want_ the throne!!" I snapped. "I never wanted it... I wouldn't even take it to spite my father, who never wanted me to have it, either. Gran turns twenty and can ascend to the throne in just over three years, he's patient and gentle-natured enough not to rush things. You know us... you know _me_."

The tall, dark haired Aliean and I sat in silence for what seemed like an eternity. I studied his features and his mannerisms, so well-defined and elegant... just as beautiful as my brother. If things had been different, someone like Desarm should've been heir to the throne.  
"...Okay. I trust you," he said first, breaking the silence. "but what do you want me to do about it? I don't have any power on our planet, and on this ship I'm only the captain of a failed team."  
"I just... I need you to put your trust in my brother and I. And if something happens to the two of us, I want you to spread the information about my father to everyone aboard this ship."  
"...I promise. Thank you for trusting me with this."  
"No, thank **you**... So much... Thank you for being my friend. I'm sorry for everything."

~

During Gaia's practice a week later, my biological father called me into his office, that room I always hated, that overlooked the spring green soccer field aboard our spaceship. I had no desire to go see him but knew it was better to keep up a strong appearance in front of the others, especially my brother.

As soon as I walked in and the door closed behind me, he got up from his desk and walked over to me. I felt my heart begin to race but continued to hold his gaze.

"Ulvida," he snarled, "I know what you think of me, and I know you've told your brother something. I see it in the way he looks at me now, though he tries to hide it with his ever-emotionless expression. I can see it in his eyes."  
"I told him nothing. I've obeyed your order, no one but you and I know that you killed Mother."  
Backing me up against the wall, he grabbed my throat, strong enough to make me gasp for air.  
"You bitch. I know you saw me sleeping with that Earth boy and told your brother every last detail. I'd kill you if you weren't such an important part of my plans."  
"What are you going to do to me, then...?" I choked out.  
"Hmph. Don't flatter yourself into thinking I want to have my way with you." He released his grip from my neck, moving his hand upwards to cup my cheek as he looked into my eyes with hatred. "I fucking despise you. I never wanted a daughter! You disgust me, and right from the minute you were born I swore to myself as soon as a son was born to me I'd get rid of you. Sixteen years later, I still haven't..."

His words stung harder than the pain of his hand around my throat. Part of me knew I hated him and didn't care at all what he thought of me, but... he didn't even want me from the beginning? I felt so rejected, I could have cried.  
"Why didn't you just kill me the night you killed Mother? No one could have stopped you."  
He smirked. "As much as I hate to say it, I had a moment of weakness and hesitation. I was still riding out the thrill of killing her, and suddenly seeing you there, I panicked. By the time I regained myself, it was too late for me to be able to cover up your death as well as hers."

"Hilariously, it turns out you and I are an awful lot alike. I've made my way into the bedroom of a human woman, just as you have. I took advantage of her over and over a few mating seasons ago, and now she has my second son. If you had been born a boy, I'm sure you'd love to do the same with that kind of power over your precious Hitomiko-"  
" ** _SHUT UP!!_** You and I are nothing alike! You're just a rapist and murderer, and I could do well to have you executed for interplanetary treason!"  
He struck my face so hard that I collpased, with tears pooling in my eyes. "Not that you'd believe it, but I'm still worshipped on our planet. Our people wouldn't believe a jealous bitch of a daughter after I've worked so hard to build my reputation, protect the children of Aliea, and work on colonizing this planet."  
I got back up on my feet, my tears finally falling.  
"Dearest daughter," he said sarcastically, his voice dripping with a sickly sweet poison. "From this point on, if you so much as go near your brother without being under my supervision, I would be more than happy to take your lover's life. You can stay in Keeve's dorm for the rest of the mission."


	8. Halls Of Fleeting Moments

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i don't really know where this is going anymore!  
> warning for a (non-explicit) sex scene if you're not into that.

That man, that wretched "king" of our planet, escorted me back to my brother and I's room to supervise me as I collected my things to move into Keeve's dorm.  
"Ulvida! ...Father, what are you doing here?"  
"Ulvida's moving into Keeve's dorm so that we don't have any more... Drama."  
"Wh-what are you talking about?"  
"I don't want the two of you in contact at all anymore. Is that understood?"  
"Y...yes, Father."

Keeve was a wonderful dorm mate, as calm and gentle-natured as my baby brother was. During her time on our UFO she had studied cultures of other planets besides Earth and Aliea, and each night she told me wonderful stories about faraway planets like Latonique and Sandorius. Her tales of other cultures were like bedtime stories to me... brief escapes from the sad realities our king brought us.

"I was talking to Beluga earlier - you know, from Diamond Dust? Gazel's bodyguard... anyway, he told me about his time in the Sazanahran mafia."  
"Oh? I always wondered about that..." I said, half asleep. "I wanted to ask him, but never had time and figured he wouldn't tell me much anyway. Gazel says he's not much of a talker."  
Keeve giggled. "He seemed to want to tell me about it after I seemed interested enough! Apparently he worked for the Tareru crime family on Sazanahra. I've read about them in some of my books, they're really infamous! He says he did a lot of things he regrets while working for them, so he ran out on a job and ended up on Aliea. Now that he's working directly under a prince, he says he thinks that even if the Tarerus found him, they wouldn't be able to kill him because that would be interplanetary treason."  
"Wow... Maybe you and I should skip out on all this Genesis Project business and go find a nice prince on another planet."  
She sighed, deep in thought. "If I could pick any planet I could fall in love with a prince from, it'd be Ixal... I've only seen old illustrations of Ixalens, but they were so beautiful..."  
I chuckled, always loving Keeve's peaceful, dreamy fashion of excitement. "You should tell me more about Ixal tomorrow night."

~

Days later, I was taking another aimless stroll through the halls, my mind still racing over everything that had happened thus far. My thoughts only ever obsessively combed over things that wretched man in power had said and done. I found myself standing in front of Desarm's room once again, realizing I needed a night of escape with someone I trusted. I knocked on the door, and when he answered I threw my arms around his neck, stroking his long, silky hair that he always fashioned into a scarf.

"Desarm... this is going to sound strange," I faltered, lowering my voice to a husky whisper. "I want to make love with you."  
The tall, well-built man blushed at hearing me say those words. In his eyes I was still the princess of our home planet, and what I had just said to him wasn't exactly something just anyone would hear from a member of the royal family.  
"You... you want to...?" He looked deep into my eyes. "Ulvida, are you sure about this...? When you helped us, you were always talking about that Earth woman you love..."  
I cringed a little bit, remembering the long, passionate nights I had shared with Hitomiko. "I still love her!" I snapped. "I just... I need someone for tonight. I need someone I trust."  
He wrapped his hands around my waist. "Only if you're sure, I'd be honoured to be your lover for the night."  
I nodded, smiling up at him. He led me into his room and shut the door behind us.

Just moments later he and I were deep in the throes of passionate embrace. He was the only man I would ever be able to trust with my body, as he was so kind and truly loving. We both knew this was a one-night stand, and yet he gave it to me better than I had ever imagined a man could. The moments turned to hours without either of us growing tired. We changed positions every so often, kissing each other and moaning out each other's names. He kissed every part of my body, making my very being ache for more and more. 

After we finally finished, I laid there in his arms and we talked. Looking over at the clock, I realized that I should probably get back to Keeve and I's dorm before sunrise. I yanked on my panties and the shirt Desarm had been wearing, as he stopped me by the door.  
"Ulvida... thank you for tonight. If you ever need anything, I'm here for you, no matter what."  
"Thank you," I whispered. "Same for you."  
He leaned down to kiss me one last time, and I wrapped my arms around his waist, pulling him closer to deepen the kiss. I opened the door, not eager to leave his warmth, but anxious to get back to my room before anyone else woke up.

I had just made it back to the Gaia dormitories, when who else would I run across stalking the halls other than Ryuuichi! I averted my gaze, hoping somehow that he wouldn't talk to me.

"Ulvida, what are you doing at this hour in only a shirt and panties?"  
Shit. Of course I left my jumpsuit in Desarm's dorm. My mind was so busy, I didn't have time to think about changing back into my jumpsuit before leaving.

"It's none of your business."  
"If it concerns any member of Gaia, it IS my business," he said, frowning at me. "Where were you running off to in the middle of the night?"  
"Oh, so I'm a member of Gaia first and your daughter second. That's right."  
"Where. Were. You."  
I just decided to tell him the truth. I had already been caught, and it's not like I was ashamed of it or anything.  
"I was sleeping with Desarm."  
"Hah, he would want a whore like _you_?"  
"Fuck you!"  
"Listen here, you stupid slut," he said, backing me up against the wall of the hallway. "Go back and get your jumpsuit, and meet me on the field for a practice test with the limiter. I'm not making it easy on you today."  
I said nothing as I mentally flipped him off. I started off down the hall when suddenly Desarm came rushing around the corner.

"Ulvida, you forgot... your jumpsuit." He said, pausing as he caught Ryuuichi's gaze. "Hello, your majesty."  
Ryuuichi smirked, saying nothing to him.  
"Let's go, dearest daughter. Time to practice."  
My father led me off down the hall. Looking back at Desarm over my shoulder, I saw him clench his fists.

~

I was completely exhausted by that afternoon and ended up collapsing into bed long before sunset. I awoke again not long before our cafeteria was to close for the night, so I brushed my hair out and headed down for something to eat before going back to sleep.

The cafeteria was usually empty by this time, but as I took my tray to a table, I spotted Kazemaru sitting near the back of the room. I had to warn him to leave before that man corrupted him any further. I sat down at his table and looked him in the eyes.

"Who are you?"  
"Doesn't matter. I'm not supposed to be talking to you." I muttered coldly to the boy. "Listen to me. Run. Get off this ship. He's lying to you."  
"...Heh. Jealous? I'm the sole heir to the Aliea throne, you know."  
"He's using you!!"  
Kazemaru ignored me and stood from his seat, grabbing his tray.  
"Weirdo. I know that's the Gaia uniform you're wearing. Sorry that you're so insecure about winning that you need to tell me to bail."

I fought the urge to follow him and tell him that he would never be an heir to the throne. That Ryuuichi had three children... but I couldn't. If he told him what I'd said, the consequences could be very dangerous...

~

Gazel and Burn, along with a few members of their teams, were found playing an unapproved match against Raimon. They were winning by a landslide, but... two captains were not allowed to join forces, as only one captain could be the true leader of the Genesis Project. And had we allowed this to go on... Gazel and Burn would have fought over it so much that we'd never hear the end of it.

Gran had taken the opportunity to transport the eleven offenders back and have them put under careful surveilance for the remainder of the project.  
"Hello, Ulvida. You look well."  
"Hm. You did the honours just to see Endou again, I presume?"  
"Hahaha... actually, not this time. Father personally asked me to round them up."  
"We're **not** cattle," Gazel huffed indignantly. "Maybe if you payed closer attention, you'd see what we were trying to do."  
"I _saw_ that you were aiming for that Genesis title," Gran chimed back. "And had you won it, what would you do? Start a war between each other for whoever gets it?"  
"A real lover's quarrel..." I quietly added.

"I heard that!! I'm not the ice prince's lover, or anything like that." Burn announced, popping his shoulder axles back into place. "I was the captain of our Chaos, and as the supreme being - being a machine and all - I would have rightfully staken claim to the Genesis title."  
"Bet you would've had a fun time trying to prove that against a royal blooded family, Gran's or mine."  
"Royal-schmoyal! Us of Prominence will outlive every last one of you!!"

" **Enough.** That'll be all. Our fathers will be keeping a very close eye on you two and the other twenty members of your teams. Any more insolence after this could be taken as a crime against the leading royal family, you know."  
"...Yes, sir..."

Gran looked at me and smiled gently before leaving the transport room, leaving a pain in my heart. How I wished to talk and joke with him, to know what he was thinking... 

~

"Hm? Ulvida, who are you writing to?"  
"Oh...! It's-it's another letter to Hitomiko... I wanted to give her a few love letters when we finally reunited again."

I was really writing a secret letter to my brother, and Keeve knew this as well as I did, but we had to keep up appearances... after all, the walls had ears.

"This is probably going to be a bit of an odd question, but... do you really think you're still in love with her, or that she feels the same way? After all... the last time you were really intimate was when you were teenagers... a lot has changed. ...Oh, don't take that the wrong way or anything, though!!"  
"It's okay. I kind of... almost wonder the same thing. But..." I lowered my voice and leaned to whisper into Keeve's ear. "...she wouldn't have been training Raimon to fight us this whole time if she weren't trying to save us."  
"S-save us...?"  
"Gran and I."  
"Oh."

I finished up writing my letter to my little brother, then asked Keeve if she could put it in that secret place for me with the others, where I wouldn't find it, but could ask her to retrieve it when I needed it. The letter hiding place... our secret code for Gran's room.


	9. His Darkest Secret

" _Baby brother,_

_I miss your sweet smile, the one that keeps me strong. I'm eagerly awaiting the time that we can smile together again. I know that tomorrow you are going to meet Hitomiko - my lover, and the woman who was like an older sister to you. Please give her my kindest regards..._

_I met with Ichirouta Kazemaru a couple of days ago - he thoroughly believes he is the heir to Aliea's throne... I had no way to tell him this wasn't true, without somehow putting one of our lives in danger. His, yours, **or** mine. I only hope he can realize the truth about that awful man before it's too late... since the Genesis Project began, I've witnessed so much sadness since that man came back for us. He's already taken you and Hitomiko from me... I cannot bear it if he takes Keeve or Desarm away, too. I can't lose someone else I love._

_Please keep smiling for me from afar -  
-Ulvida_ "

Gran nodded and winked at me after announcing the morning's practice routine - his signal to me that he read my letter. He could never respond, as he was under constant watch when he left his room. I found it quite odd that Ryuuichi watched him like a hawk, yet didn't care what I was doing... he probably just assumed I was sleeping with everyone else on the team at this point.

It had finally come to be arranged. Raimon was to voyage to our mother ship to fight against us. Guided by the lights of the many hallways, they made their way to the center room, the cavernous conference hall that Ryuuichi had refurbished into a soccer field. Our team Gaia had been renamed "The Genesis", as we were the only remaining group as part of the project. Our colonization project was supposed to be like "a new genesis upon Earth", as Ryuuichi has put it.

The eleven of us of Genesis were waiting to go onto the field for our final fight against Raimon. My heart beat wildly with anxiety, and I tried to only focus on the fact that I'd be seeing Hitomiko again... I'd dreamt about her warm embrace so many nights. 

While our nine friends were preparing in the main room, my brother, our two fathers, and myself stood in the office overlooking the field. Raimon was making their way through the ship - we were watching them on the monitors. My brother was anxious to meet Endou face to face again, for he had grown completely smitten with the young Earth boy and his undying passion for soccer and the will to help his friends.

Our biological father broke our concentrated silence. "You two have really grown up to be such fine children. Ulvida, you have raised your brother so well."  
I attempted to say something that would hurt Ryuuichi; to make him show weakness, even if just in front of Gran and our Earth father.  
"And I suppose I'm not the only one who realizes how much Gran looks like his mother," I said coldly. "He has her shiny red hair and forest-green eyes. He wears the same calm face she always wore - serene and thoughtful."

Gran smiled and blushed slightly at me saying this. A peculiar look crossed Ryuuichi's face as he said nothing. Our Earth father turned his attention towards Ryuuichi. "Was she really as lovely as Ulvida says? It must have been hard to lose her - but I know you'll treasure her memory forever."  
Ryuuichi nodded, however turning the awkward subject around and onto his son. "Gran will make a fine leader of our planet once he turns twenty. He'll have heirs as beautiful as he and his mother - provided he starts looking for a suitable wife sooner rather than later."

"Father, not now..."  
"We really should get going," I said, interrupting Ryuuichi's chance to speak and embarrass Gran further. "Raimon will make their entrance soon. Call the others down."  
"Hm. I'm glad you at least seem intent on breaking down Raimon so your brother will stop chasing that boy around. He should know better, a male won't bear him any heirs-"

"If I may speak for a moment, Kenzaki." my adopted father spoke, standing up to face Ryuuichi. "Early on, when we realized Raimon was strong, your focus on them was solely to study their strengths and weaknesses to help build ourselves up against them. Now, because Gran is in love with a boy from Raimon... your only desire is to keep them apart so that your son can create heirs for you. Why is that so important to you?"

Ryuuichi seemed flustered at the man's questioning. "B-because... it's unsightly for anyone in the royal family to be with a partner of the same sex. As a royal, a main focus should be bearing heirs to continue the royal lineage - I did my part."

"And yet you don't care that Ulvida is in love with my daughter? She's free to love the person she wants to... shouldn't Gran be able to say the same for himself?"

Ryuuichi silently looked out the window, seething with anger. Gran and I left to join the others on the field.

~

The eleven of us stood there awaiting Raimon's entrance into the room. I crossed my arms and my brother stood with his chest high, ready to demonstrate his power over the human team - and secretly hoping to convince Endou to join us.

"Endou... I'll prove that us of Genesis are the strongest soldiers you will ever face. We have awaited this day for months... No. Years, even."  
"Can this soccer... Filled with this desire to be the strongest, can you call this fun?"

Gran was taken aback by Endou's words.  
"It's... what Father wants."

"It doesn't matter what it's for. Hiroto, what do _you_ want?"

Gran stayed quiet as the game began. Raimon had improved, but couldn't break through our defense. I assisted Gran in bringing the ball up to make a shoot, scoring a goal effortlessly - a good look for us in front of Ryuuichi and Seijirou, but a dent in Raimon's morale. The players nervously stood around, visibly panicking as they tried to figure out what to do next - when a familiar, strong yet elegant voice chimed in to break the concentrated silence.

"Remember how much you've been training for this! You've never given up, or strayed behind... You've persevered through everything we've been through so far, so believe in yourselves! Then you can win!"

Hitomiko stood tall at the sidelines, offering these words to wisdom to her juniors. She was their beacon of light, as much as she was mine. Her words had also gained attention of everyone on The Genesis, and she knew this - looking straight into my eyes as she spoke her next words.

"I believe in you!"

It was Raimon's ball now. With this boost in confidence, they moved forward. Nero stopped their shoot and the ball once again went up to Gran, who attempted to score again but was blocked by one of Raimon's other players, a lightly muscular defender with fluffy pink hair and bronzed skin.

Things went back and forth on the field for a while until Shirou Fubuki, the boy I had ultimately saved from death at the hands of my father, scored a point from Nero and tied the game. Gran attempted to bring us back into the lead, but Raimon's young goalkeeper was able to stop the ball this time around. Gran was becoming a bit flustered at being unable to perform successfully for his fathers and was beginning to disobey team orders.

"Have you lost your will, Gran?"

A hologram of Ryuuichi appeared before us on the field. "I must say, I'm quite disappointed in you after everything. Ulvida, you take charge in the second half. Release the limiters."

There was no way in hell I was going to do that. The limiters would destroy our bodies if we used them for more than a couple minutes at a time. I rushed off the field and up to that office overlooking the field to give Ryuuichi a piece of my mind, only to find he was no longer up there. I asked Seijirou, who told me he went to his lab to prepare something - that same lab where he performed DNA experiments upon all those human boys.

~

The lab was empty, but as I looked, I noticed something I had never seen before - an opening in the floor, with a stairway leading down. I dared to make my way down there, and what I saw sickened me.

It was a room full of large cylindrical capsules, filled with a thick, pale purple fluid not unlike the colour of Aliean blood. Some capsules were empty, but some had people inside of them. I hadn't gotten a close enough look at them to see any detail, but they seemed dead - or at least unconscious.

Further in the room stood Ryuuichi among ten other young men - Ichirouta Kazemaru, along with other friends and members of Raimon. Ryuuichi pressed a few buttons on a panel and drained the capsule before him. Out stepped a smaller boy, with chestnut coloured hair and large front teeth... was that Teppei Kurimatsu, who had just left Raimon as well...?

I had lost all my nerve to approach my father and hid until he and the - now eleven - others left the room. I didn't want to stay here much longer, but curiosity got the best of me. I looked at each tube containing a person, reading their names and information. "Yoshiteru Hikara", "Ryousuke Hie", "Shinobu Takahashi"... these were former members of the Imperial Academy team. Only three capsules in this section were empty - "Jirou Sakuma" and "Koujirou Genda", with all info simply replaced with an unsettling and impersonal [DECEASED]. Akio Fudou's said [MISSING].

There were other capsules sparsely containing a human here or there, but I felt myself drawn to one particular capsule, far in the back of the room - one containing an incredibly handsome boy, with curly grey hair and a tall, slender build. I read the nameplate underneath the capsule. 

"Hiroto Kira"

I drew my breath in sharply in disbelief. Was this... Seijirou's son, that had supposedly been killed in an accident overseas...? There was no way... He was seven years old when he supposedly died, those eighteen years ago... My own brother hadn't even been born yet. I was startled out of my thoughts by a muffled thud and looked up to see Hiroto Kira staring me down, his hand pressed to the glass. He, too, was wearing the same royal jumpsuit that Kazemaru and the other boys had been wearing. 

I knew Ryuuichi was planning on blowing up our ship if we lost to Raimon. Everyone of the other teams had been evacuated out already and posted around different locations throughout Japan. I knew I had to save this boy - he was my lover's older brother, and my baby brother's doppelganger of sorts. His once jade-green eyes were now a pale pink, full of longing as he looked at me, pleading to be set free.

I pressed the release button, and it asked for an access code. As cliché as it was, I punched in Gran's birth date - 1982116 - knowing Ryuuichi never cared about any specific date or another... so if he had to pick a date to remember, it would be his heir's birthday.

The capsule drained, and out stepped the boy - twenty-five year old Hiroto Kira. He was quite tall, but stood a bit oddly, leaning a bit as he studied me before quietly speaking.

"You actually... let me out. I've been begging for... so long... Someone actually helped me." he stated with a crooked smile. "Let everyone else out, too?"

I nodded, telling him the code and watching him get to work, all while shouting directions for him on how to get out of the ship. As he was letting the Imperial members out of their capsules, I asked him if he understood.

"Don't worry, lady. We've been in these capsules so long with such heightened senses from the experiments, we'll be able to find out way to fresh air sooner or later. I was supposed to be dead so long ago... I guess... I basically have been. But now, I'll be reborn, in a way... thanks to you."

~

I silently made my way back up to the field and complied with Ryuuichi's game orders anyway. Raimon ended up winning against us. Our strengths were so drained due to the use of the limiters that we had no choice but to accept defeat. Gran congratulated Endou on the win, and Hitomiko approached me as Seijirou stepped onto the field by my side.

"...What now, Ulvi?" she asked in her soft, loving tone - the same tone I had not heard for years now. "I - no, _we've_ defeated your team. Convince your father to abandon his plans and let us be."

"Hitomiko..." I began, tears welling up in my eyes. "It's not so simple. Ryuuichi isn't done yet. You and Raimon need to get out of here before he brings his final team up here-"

"She's right, you know."

We turned and looked in the direction the voice had come from. Ryuuichi had entered the field with eleven cloaked figures. Raimon and Genesis both stood gaping, trying to figure out who the mysterious group was.

"I had a feeling Genesis would fail, anyway. Gran is an incompetent leader and so is Ulvida - both are too focused on love to care about winning for the greater good of their people. However, this new team will change everything..."

The mysterious figures removed their cloaks, revealing themselves to be ex-Raimon members, with Ichirouta Kazemaru as their captain. There was no question that they had all been subjects of Ryuuichi's DNA experiments - some had slightly mutated features making them look not unlike those of the Aliea species - and their eyes, their damn eyes were dull purple from A-lite infusion. There was no way to reverse any of the procedures my father had gone through to create these near-chimeras, they would live out the rest of their lives as aliens.

Endou was dumbstruck by all of this. "Kazemaru... Why did you join them!?"  
"Simple. Ryuuichi offered me power, and I accepted. He offered me a future on his planet, and quite a bit more that I can't speak about around younger ears."

Kazemaru sauntered up to the boy. "Bet you wish you would've joined the aliens now, right, Endou?"

The human boy was angered by this. He began to challenge Kazemaru to a match, but Ryuuichi stopped him.

"I'm afraid not, dear boy. This team - my precious Dark Emperors... they are not for you to fight... Yet." He turned his attention back towards my brother and I, and the rest of our team. "They're to prove to this rag-tag team of failures that humans cannot be taken for granted."

Gran was speechless, unmoving. Seijirou spoke to Ryuuichi. "What is the meaning of this, Kenzaki...? I had a feeling there was something you weren't telling me..."

"Simple. I've been conducting little 'experiments' on various human test subjects... a few orphans here and there, those who approached me seeking power... and now that I've perfected my theories, I've created the strongest Aliean/human hybrids. Now, all that's left is to test their strengths against the 'strongest' Alieans... those of the official Genesis plans."

"You've betrayed me, Kenzaki."

"Don't feel so special. There's a lot of people that I'm sure feel the same way."

I gently came up next to Hitomiko and held her hand softly. "You need to take your father and Raimon and get out of here. This isn't your fight anymore."

She looked at me, tears welling in her eyes. "Promise me you'll come home...?"

I nodded, before leaning up to kiss her quickly. I smiled at her and turned to walk away to prepare for my next fight. I didn't look back to see her again, for I figured my heart might break knowing it might be the last time I ever saw her.


	10. Death

Hitomiko gathered up Seijirou and the members of Raimon and they left in a hurry. Endou lingered behind, looking at Gran, who simply told him "Run. It's dangerous here, you have to go now." with that trademark bittersweet smile of his.

The Dark Emperors were much stronger than any of us, easily scoring a couple points in the first half. It didn't help that we were so worn out from Raimon. Gran was the only one who refused to use the limiter and still had a decent amount of stamina left over, and he tried again and again to break through Takeshi Sugimori's goalkeeping skills. Gran was trying his best to convince the group that they were being used.

"He's lying to you, Kazemaru!!"  
"So I've heard. The blue-haired bitch told me the same thing once."  
"I'm serious! You're better than this, you're better without him!"

Kazemaru kicked the ball against my brother's solar plexus, knocking the wind out of him and bringing him to his knees. "Your team failed. You're weak, and with the power Ryuuichi Kenzaki has given to my friends and I, we will always be better than you. I'm not sure if you know this, but I'm guaranteed a spot on Aliea's throne."

Gran chose to say nothing about that last detail. "Ryuuichi is using you for sex. If anyone on Aliea finds out about _you_ and your relationship with him, he will be sent to death and you'll be abandoned in a testing facility, either here or on Aliea."

"He's _not_ using me!! I love him for what he's done for me, it's more than any human has ever done for me."  
"Think about Endou... Your best friend. You've failed and betrayed him. Can you really live with that guilt?"

" **SHUT UP!!** Shut up, shut up! He doesn't matter to me right now! I'll prove to you that we are better than you and more deserving of the throne!"

"You're chimeras now. You wouldn't be allowed to take the throne, not even the king can control that. It just can't happen."

Gran stood back up, looking his opponent in the eyes with that calm, collected glare he always had when he was deathly serious about something. "You guys... You would all be much safer on Earth then up there, on Aliea. You don't know anyone on Aliea besides those of us that you've met. Here on Earth... you have your friends, your families, your own homes... Provided you didn't end up in cells in an Aliea testing laboratory, you'd end up living among strangers in a culture you know nothing about, speaking languages that you can't."

My brother continued, as Kazemaru's expression began to soften. "Please trust me. I'm only speaking the truth... I don't want to see any of you hurt by Ryuuichi's lies." He gently placed a hand on Kazemaru's shoulder. "You're already loved. Your whole team is. Your friends on Raimon, especially Endou - they really do love and care about you. Even still."

Gran's words had touched the souls of the Dark Emperors. Ryuuichi's face showed signs of panic as the boys on the field began to turn towards him and approach him.

"We've had enough of your games, Ryuuichi Kenzaki."  
The man turned to face the group of Earthlings he had worked so hard to power up. The boy who had spoken stepped forward to confront him.

"So... you're turning against me?" Ryuuichi said with a smirk. "Foolish boy. You could've ruled a whole planet."  
"I don't need a whole planet. I have friends that I love, and that love me too." Kazemaru swallowed hard and looked the tall alien in the eyes. "Now that I am thinking clearly, I've come to realize that's far more important to me than power or status."  
"How naive."  
Kazemaru turned to face the ten other Dark Emperors.  
"From this day on, we're still human inside and we will fight as humans! We will stay with our friends, no matter what!"

No one saw Ryuuichi draw the blade. In a split second he grabbed the young boy by the waist, driving the knife through his back and piercing his heart. The boy cried out in pain and spit up blood as the alien man withdrew the knife from his back. One moment Kazemaru was standing in front of them, the next he lie on the ground, already dead.

" _ **KAZEMARU!!**_ "

The Dark Emperors were too shocked to say anything or move. Someoka was the first to run over to where his friend lay, and gently he cradled the perished boy. He didn't care if Kazemaru's blood got on him, he just wanted to hold his friend one last time before the last of the warmth escaped his body.  
"You... you bastard!! You _sick fuck_!! How could you do a thing like this??"  
"Stupid child. You have no idea what I've done before. This is nothing."  
Handa spoke next. "We all knew you were hopping in the sack with him, how could you just... turn around and kill him as if he meant nothing to you...?"  
"Isn't it obvious? He never really meant anything to me; I had used his body and soul for my own pleasure! The 'future ruler of Aliea'... hah! I already have three biological children of my own, how could he be so foolish as to believe a mere human could be chosen to rule our planet?"  
Someoka looked at the man with tears in his eyes. "You LIED to us!! You told us you had no children!!"

I could do nothing but watch and listen in shock. Every part of Gran's being was angered by this, however, and he stormed over to the side of the field where Ryuuichi stood. Ryuuichi turned to him and spoke. "See, my dear boy? These humans you have so much interest in are unfit to be our rivals. And naturally, they would have no place being in power on our planet. That job is only meant for you and me."

The Emperors turned to Gran with angry faces. They had lost a friend because of him and his father! The atmosphere was thick and heavy. Ryuuichi left the pitch as Gran fell to his knees by the dead boy Someoka held. Holding the boy's cold hand, Gran began to curse his father for doing such unspeakable things to everyone - cheating, lying to, killing the kindhearted people of this planet. Tears silently fell from his eyes, for he knew this boy that had perished was one of Endou's best friends; and how Gran had loved Endou so.

I made my way down the field and gently placed my hands on my little brother's shoulders. The twelve of us were gathered there around poor Kazemaru's body, some of us crying, some standing in heavy silence.  
"Gran, there's something I need to tell you."  
He turned and looked up at me with questioning eyes.  
"The one who killed our mother was Ryuuichi. I saw him do it. He threatened to kill both of us if I told anyone, but it's time for you to know. He's the one who had us sent to this planet, he's the reason for everything. All because I saw him murder our mother."  
The humans looked up at me in confusion and awe. Gran's eyes widened, at first in shock and sadness, then his face turned serious as he decided what to do next.

Without a word, my brother gently released Kazemaru's hand and stood from where he was. He was trembling as he spoke. "Ulvida, I need you to listen to me. Call the four leaders down here immediately."  
"Anything for you," I said, "but why?"  
"As Reize once told me, there's a saying on Earth about revenge that goes 'an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind'. But if I don't take my revenge on what Father has done to us - to everyone - more and more people will be hurt by him."  
"You don't mean..."  
"I do." Gran swallowed hard and looked up, his dark green eyes shining in the dim light of the field room.  
"I'm going to kill our father."

~

Gran and I ordered the other four captains of Aliea teams to teleport back at once. The six of us entered the large capsule room at the bottom of the ship, which was now full of nothing but empty capsules. Gran had sheathed an Aliea knife in his boot, the same kind Ryuuichi had used upon Kazemaru. Ryuuichi stood in the center, alone, wearing that same jumpsuit worn by Aliea people of the leading royal family - the same kind he had the Dark Emperors wear for their faceoff against The Genesis. The same kind Kazemaru was wearing when he was fatally stabbed by Ryuuichi in front of the others.

"I knew you would follow me here. I know this is the end for me", the man stated calmly. "I won't put up a fight any longer. I'll be arrested either on Earth for the murder and disappearance of several individuals, or on my own planet for interplanetary treason and the murder of my wife. I only have one request - Gran has to decide what to do with me."  
"I just want you to answer this question."  
"Which is?"  
"Why did you kill Mother? What could you have possibly gained from it? The one with the power, wealth, and status was you. Not her."

Ryuuichi's expressionless face twisted into a smile, and he began to laugh. He turned his attention to me.  
"You finally told him, did you? Certainly you haven't forgotten what I told you the day I sent you here. Not that it matters, there's nothing I can do to you now."  
"Answer my damn question, Father!" Gran demanded.  
"She looked so calm, so beautiful, so helpless when she slept at night. I started planning it before you were born and in the few months afterwards. I killed her because it satisfied me, on such a deep level, to kill someone I loved and cherished." He pondered this for a second and cackled some more. 

"I was the one to take her life! Not an illness, not some unknown assassin, me! Me, me, me! Just thinking about my lover's lifeless body makes me feel more hot and bothered than I ever did while she was alive! I was going to kill Ulvida as well, had she not seen what I did to your mother. Not a day goes by where I don't wish I had just done it anyway."

My stomach dropped. I was too nauseated to do anything. Filled with rage, Gran kicked him in the abdomen hard enough to knock the wind out of him, then sent him crumpling to the ground with a punch to the jaw.

"HOW COULD YOU!?" Gran screamed. It scared me to see my calm, gentle baby brother like this, but I was far more scared of the disgusting creature we had called our father, even though he couldn't do anything to us now. Shaking with rage, Gran pulled the knife out of his boot and held it over Ryuuichi's chest. Reize, Desarm, Burn, and Gazel said nothing as they one by one turned their backs to not have to witness what was about to happen. They knew what was coming, and they felt as if it was best that they didn't have to see the gruesome event. And maybe it was for the best that they didn't.

"You murdered our mother for no reason other than it simply got your rocks off! You would've done the same to my sister without a second thought!"  
Gran kicked his father in the crotch and then placed his foot over the man's throat as he moaned in pain.  
"You made our life hell. You made MY life hell. And worst of all, you made my sister's life the worst kind of hell imaginable - you played mind games with her, you forced her off onto another planet and left her to raise me alone. You played the same mind games with the poor children of this Earth and made them do your bidding. Then you had us tear apart Raimon's spirits and left Hitomiko alone to pick up the pieces."

Gran moved the sharp knife against Ryuuichi's cheek, cutting into his flesh enough to hurt but so as not to do a whole lot of damage.  
"As if that weren't enough, when the human children you put under your control finally turned against you, you killed their leader! You sick fucking bastard! You are fucking despicable, and I can't wait until the people of Aliea hear of all the things you've done!"  
Our father grinned up at him. "You've become a fine, fair and honest young man. You'll make a great king."  
"I hope you go to the same hell you put all of us through."

Tears begun to silently fall from my eyes as I stood behind my brother, looking down on the helpless man. I had stopped thinking of him as my father the night he murdered our mother, and yet I had lost even more respect for him by now. I just wanted it to all be over. For me, my brother, our allies from Aliea, our friends from Earth. Ryuuichi coughed up a bit of blood and began to speak once more.

"So tell me, will our people ever find out you murdered their king?"  
"No, but it's another burden the six of us children of Aliea will have to shoulder forever. I can assure you we'll be living with the guilt in the backs of our minds until the last of us die."  
"Gran, Ulvida was right - you really do look so much like your mother. I know you're filled with rage, and yet your face is so calm and beautiful."

With a yell, Gran drove the knife into our father's chest and silenced him forever. Ryuuichi looked past his son, and for a chilling second, his eyes met mine. Then as quickly as the blade had been driven into his heart, the light faded from his eyes and his body went limp.

The king of Aliea was now dead.

Gran pulled his foot off the man's throat as he eased his grip from the bloody knife. He took a few steps back before he fell to his knees. He then finally began to cry - long, shuddery wails mourning the death of his father - or rather, the person he thought his father was, and our youth that had been taken away from us. It was all over. I walked over to where my sweet baby brother fell and cradled him in my arms. We sobbed together and held onto each other until our wave of emotions faded out. I couldn't bear to look, but Gran watched as the other four moved silently to remove our father's body without a trace of what happened.


	11. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you to Milla for always supporting me throughout the course of this fic's release, Renji for help with developing a few of the headcanons that made this story progress a little smoother, and Dylan for helping me with writing tips when i finally decided to start this fic after 4 years of development - i couldn't have done it without you guys!

In late January of 1999, just a couple months after the death of Aliea's king, the fifty-five of us children of Aliea returned to our home planet.

Seeing as how Gran and I returned before our father, the question of his whereabouts naturally arose. Gran had quickly arranged a council meeting to be broadcast across the planet. The buzzing of the screens started up. The beautiful council hall was once again filled with people of high power from all over the planet - a sight I had not seen in seventeen long years. Once all the broadcasting systems were rolling, Gran stepped up to the royal podium and began to speak.  
"Greetings, people of Aliea. I understand you may all be wondering why it is I have called forth this meeting in place of my father, the king of our planet."  
He hesitated for a second, looking down. "I regret to inform you all that due to unfortunate circumstances, the king is dead. He was assaulted by a common Earth criminal during our missions on planet Earth - stabbed fatally in the chest over a matter of some money. Why more precautions weren't taken on his end, I do not understand. However, as shocking as this news is to all of you, this is not all that I have to say."  
His body stiffened as he looked straight ahead. I stood behind him and to the side, quietly studying his serious profile.

"It is ironic, the way that he died, all things considered. Stabbed through the heart by a common thief. If you recall, seventeen years ago this is allegedly how the queen was murdered in our royal home. What you know of her murder is only partially true." Gran quivered with anger. "The murderer of the queen - our mother - was none other than the king himself. My sister witnessed the whole thing on that fateful night, a poor six year old child having to see her mother murdered by her own father. Because she knew his secret, she and all the other children and I were shipped off to Earth where she would be powerless and unable to tell what she had seen. He threatened to kill every one of us if she told anyone, even me."

"Why would he kill his own wife!?" a councilman cried out. "He truly loved her so - anyone could see that!"  
Gran's blank expression grew uneasy; he began to look ill at the thought of his father's motive. "He killed her because it gave him pleasure to take her life. He had planned to do the same thing to my sister - had she not already seen what happened. If... if you'll excuse me, I need to take a rest. Ulvida, if you'll please continue for me."

I stepped up to the podium, not wishing to continue announcing the gruesome tales of our youth.  
"It is undeniable, all of us children were in good hands. The humans we lived with were very kind and supportive. However, the king came to visit the home Gran and I stayed in when Gran was fourteen and I twenty. It had been fourteen years but hearing his voice again made me remember that horrible night. He revealed to our Earth father what we were - though our Earth father had already had his suspicions we weren't anything human for years by this point. In spite of this, he had loved us so." I gulped hard, missing Seijirou Kira with all of my heart. I continued on.  
"The king came to my father under the name Ryuuichi Kenzaki, introducing to him a proposition to gain power, wealth and fame - by introducing the material A-lite to Earth and displaying its radioactive powers. Our Earth father was the chairman of a slowly failing financial company and naturally accepted the offer, thinking it would help us children out. Many experiments were done, and there is not one part of the plan a single one of us doesn't regret with our whole hearts. The worst of it is when the king began to inject Aliea DNA into young Earth humans."

Gran stood back up and picked up from there. "He coddled this group of children carrying our DNA, making them believe they would be the next rulers of Aliea! He was having a... sexual relationship with their leader, a young man named Ichirouta Kazemaru. As soon as this youth rebelled, our father killed him mercilessly, without hesitation, in front of the other ten in his group, and myself and Ulvida's entire team! Your king has not only murdered his own wife and committed pedophilia, he committed treachery by murdering a member of a species we have no qualms with - a child, at that!"

Gran was out of breath and near tears. "Having known everything my father has done, seeing his dead body being carried off by Earth police was enough to finally tell me it was all over. Ulvida and I cried for our youths - our friends' youths, the poor human boy, our mother. It was finally over and our father could no longer commit crimes."

~

A few weeks after the council meeting was my baby brother's coronation as king. He was only seventeen years old instead of the legal twenty, but since the legally first in line for the throne - myself - was of age and declined, it had to be passed to him early. He had _never_ looked more beautiful than he did on that day - he looked so mature and wise, yet young and dazzling. He had made the decision to rule without a queen, since the only person he would ever love was a male human down on Earth, and I had no desire whatsoever to rule as queen.

We returned to Earth eventually to visit. I returned to Seijirou's house to propose to Hitomiko, who I hadn't seen since the night of Kazemaru and our last king's death. She accepted the proposal and we kissed on and on, rekindling the passionate love we once had. We had a small wedding on Earth with Seijirou, Masaki, and the four Aliea team captains as our witnesses - and with Keeve as our bridesmaid, and my sweet baby brother as our best man.

Hiroto Kira's whereabouts had been unknown since the night I let him escape. I had no idea whether he was still alive, so I had chosen not to tell Hitomiko, our father, or even Gran that I saw him that day. However, somehow, all these months later - he had made his way back to his own house. Early one morning, long before the sun was up, Hitomiko and I were awoken by the sound of the doorbell ringing. We slowly went downstairs together and rounded the corner to see our father opening the door.

"...Hi, Dad."

Seijirou only stood there, as did Hitomiko, who had paused at the bottom of the stairs. Once I realized who it was, I rushed past her and up to the door.

"Hiroto!! You're okay... You made it home!!"

"My... My son... You really were alive, all this time...? I should've known when they refused to show me a body... Oh, Hiroto..." Seijirou wrapped his arms around his long-lost son, who didn't quite know how to respond to human affections - having probably been in that capsule for years. He weakly reciprocated the hug, and when his eyes found Hitomiko, he smiled a big wide grin. "Hey, little sis."

Hitomiko began to cry as she ran up to hug him as well. "Big brother... Where have you been all these years...?"

Hiroto looked at me, winking. "Boy, do I have a story for you guys..."

Hiroto moved in with our small family, helping run the orphanage as he tried to gain a bit of weight and adjust to living a regular life. Hitomiko and I took turns with Gran when it came to raising Masaki - we raised him on Earth for a few months, then he went to Aliea with his brother, who taught him the ways of being a prince. During these times, Hitomiko and I grew lonely - eventually deciding that we needed to have a child of our own to raise from birth. We arranged an agreement with Desarm for him to mate with me through that year's mating season, and the following January, Hitomiko and I now had our own daughter. 

Most of the Alieans returned to living on our home planet eventually, though Reize, Desarm, Burn, Gazel, and a few others decided to stay on Earth for a while longer. Burn and Gazel went to Korea with their friend Aphrodi, and joined Korea's national soccer team. Desarm, Wheeze, Zel, and Zorhan lived with Hitomiko and I for a short time, with Reize later joining us. Gran had been chosen by the new coach of Raimon to fight with them in the international soccer tournament. As much as he loved Endou, he knew the feelings would never be reciprocated, and in spite of his intense feelings, he was alright with that. He went on to help Endou and the rest of Raimon win the world tournament before returning home to continue his duties as ruler of our planet Aliea. The others later returned to our planet, but I chose to stay on Earth with my wife and daughter, as I felt this planet is where my heart and soul truly belonged.


End file.
